Twisted Truths
by Cyberina
Summary: Dick and Rosanna always were best friends. But what happens when they have to part ways? What happens when a young lass is rescued from The Light HQ? Will she meet her final fate? Will she overcome family issues? Will she find the long lost answers? Will Karma prove herself kind? Read to find out! RobinxOC. First story, so please be merciful, and Read and Review!
1. The Meeting

Twisted truths

Chapter 1

Halys circus, 6:30 am

It was a bright and sunny morning as always in the cheerful residence of the Graysons. Even thought their trailer wasn't as big or neat, it was as important as life to this little group of performers. And this day was no different.

Little Richard Grayson fluttered open his eyes at the brink of morning and sleepily dragged himself out of his comfy bed with his stuffed elephant trailing behind him and into the make believe dining room.

"Morning, mom. Morning, dad." He greeted his parents half heartedly.

"Morning, my little Robin." His mother cheerfully greeted him.

'Well if isn't my favorite birdie." His father purposefully teased him.

"Daaaaaad!" Dick groaned complainingly, getting a laugh out of his parents.

"Why don't you finish eating breakfast quickly, dear? Then we can go practice." His mom offered.

The mention of practice was enough to break Dick out of his sleepy trance and as he flipped onto the table, his mouth watering.

"Ok, ok, now don't eat too fast son, you don't want a stomach ache do you?" His dad smiled at him.

Dick just shook his head no really hard, gobbling down his food. As soon as he was finished, he jumped up.

"Can we go now? Can we go now?" he danced excitedly.

"Sure son. You know, we have little surprise for you today!" his dad said, following his hyperactive child into the bigger tent.

"Really? What is it dad, what is it?" the springy child could barely contain his excitement.

"Now, now, surprises aren't to be told are they?" his parents held up the suspense and followed there pouting son into the tent.

Dick immediately ran into the arms of his uncle Haley and laughed out loud as he tossed the 7 year old into the air.

"Oh, my dickey-bird, I think John already told you about the surprise did he not?" Haley asked.

"He would not tell me what it was!" Dick complained.

"C'mere, I'll show you!"

And so they went deeper into the tent and eventually, they saw a couple standing near the trapeze set and a little girl about Dick's age trying to hide behind her mother.

She had dark auburn hair, like her mothers. She was apparently shorter than Dick, and her eye color appeared to be light brown, almost orange.

"So John, these are the Wilsons, and they are going to accompany you in your performances." Haley introduced the two families.

"Hello John. It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you in star city." The man introduced them."I'm Alexander Wilson and this is my wife Alicia."

He then started searching for someone and seeing the girl hiding he caught her and flung her up making her squeal.

"And this is Rosanna Wilson, the pride of our lives." He declared proudly.

'Well john, aren't you going to introduce your family to us?" he asked

"Of course! This is Mary and Richard Grayson" John finished introducing them.

That's when Rosanna thought making friends would be a good idea.

Slowly, Rosanna crept out from her hiding place and approached Dick.

Her intense eyes stared into his, as though trying to decipher his thoughts…

"Hi, I'm Rose" she said hesitantly.

"I'm Dick" Dick replied.

Then they stood staring at each other, until….Dick broke the silence.

Suddenly he smiled. "Wanna play?" He asked her.

She smiled right back at him.

'Sure! What are we playing?" she asked, suddenly having gotten over all her fears.

"Hide and seek!' he said enthusiastically.

"Ok! I'll count!" Rosanna offered.

All the while the parents could only watch in awe at how fast can kids become friends, how they aren't judgmental and how they don't care what people think about them.

'1…2…3…4…5…" Rosanna began counting.

Dick scurried around the tent seeing which place was the best to hide.

"6...7...8...9….10!"

He crawled under a pile of boxes with circus equipment in the nick of time and heard Rose call out "ready or not, here I come!"

He chuckled slightly, knowing she won't find him. Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him and when he turned, he was snagged by Rosanna.

"Gotcha" she declared triumphantly.

Dick mumbled something unintelligible and they crawled out of their little make believe cave.

"You know what John; I'd happily marry Rose off to your son." Alexander said teasingly.

"Well Alex, you gotta wait for that!" John replied, just as cheerfully.

"Ok, people, shows about to begin, let's go!"They heard uncle Halys shout echo and the blushing children ran away with their parents on their trail.

'So you take part in the trapeze performances as well?" Dick was curious.

"Uh huh"

"Wow."

The two families were waiting behind the curtains as they heard Haley make the announcements of their arrival.

Rose and Alicia had their waist length hair tied up in buns and Marie had helpfully stitched the new family some clothes for performing.

And soon enough they were standing on the high platforms ready to take off into their death defying stunts.

Mary took off flipping and tossing herself gracefully, followed by the crowds cheering and then in a few minutes, almost everyone was on the trapeze bars swinging in perfect sync with the music, 6 year old Rose being the youngest performer after Dick.

When the show ended, both kids had enormous grins plastered on their faces as they walked back behind the curtains.

"That was cool!" Dick said suddenly, "You were totally awesome!"

"Thanks, and you did really well too!" rose replied back.

Haley was talking with Rosanna's parents while the kids ran off to play.

"Excuse me Alex, but I just received a call that you are needed back at star cities circus next week for some really important show they had planned on." He told them.

"But-wha... We just came here!"Alexander protested.

"It's only for 4-5 days John, and you could always come back if you want." Haley said.

"Oh, Haley, we will definitely come back.' answered Alex.

"But what about Rosie?" Alicia asked,

"Don't worry, dear, I have made arrangements for her to stay with the Graysons while you are gone, and I'm sure she will be happy with that too, seeing how close the kids have got." He said glancing at the children who were showing off their moves to each other.

That week passed with 3 more breath taking performances really quickly, and soon the Wilsons were packing up and ready to leave.

Of course rose was all enthusiastic about living with Dick, but she didn't know that her parents weren't coming back.

The next day when Rosanna woke up, she half expected her mother to come in with a plateful of food and begin cheerfully joking around and eating with her, just like she always did, however, she finds herself sleeping on the couch and she realized that she was in the Graysons trailer and she remembered that her parents were in star city and she was living with Dick.

She jumped up and ran where everyone was eating breakfast. She joined them and after a thrilling performance later, she was sitting with the family and enjoying marshmallows in front of their trailer, in the enchanting moonlight, she was enjoying her stay.

Dick did not know having a friend could be so much fun, especially if she was exactly as hyper energetic as him. This was the best surprise ever!

Every day the Graysons had a hard time sending the children to bed, as after a few minutes, they would be flipping off furniture and cart wheeling around the room.

Meanwhile in star city,

"No!" Alicia protested.

"What are you talking about, we were here to perform, not take part in any kind of robbery!"

"Well, if you do, you won't have to work in a stupid circus anymore." A voice sneered.

"Look, whoever you are, Tony Zucco? We are not interested; besides, we are satisfied with what we have." Alexander insisted.

"I'm sorry I have to do this, but-"

BANG!

"-I'm not sorry at all" Zucco sneered.

"Noooooo-"

"Shut up lady!" Tony screamed, shooting her as well.

Tony looked in satisfaction at the gruesome deed he had done. He did not feel repentance at all.

Soon, the guards were dragging two lifeless corpses out of the building to dump them in the out skirts of town.

"Now we are done with them, time to bring a certain circus down…."

Back at Haley's Circus.

Rosanna sat sobbing on the bed, enveloped in Mary's hug. That morning, Haley had called her and let her play on the trapeze for a while, before he broke the awful news to her.

He had politely explained her that Mom and Dad had gone to visit god and they were very happy in heaven. Looking at her horrified face, he added that she will she them again, but not too soon.

Now even if Rosanna was young, she knew very well what death was, and when she realized that her parents were gone, she broke down and hadn't stopped crying ever since.

The Graysons had supported her best they can, and Dick hadn't left her side even for a minute. Now she sat in Mary's lap, sobbing her heart out.

The police were currently on the case, and they had found a trail of dried blood leading to the outskirts, where the two bodies were poorly buried.

It hadn't been even a month since the Wilsons had joined Halys circus, and they had to deal with such an awful tragedy.

The funeral followed soon after, and almost all the circus crew attended, though Rosanna was reluctant and left early, she came anyways for the sake of her parents departured souls.

Now that Rosanna parents were gone, Haley was forced to send the young girl to an orphanage, but when the Graysons were told that, they were completely oblivious, and they decided to take Rosanna in as their own child.

With her parents gone, Rose was now completely broken. She lost her appetite, and nightmares constantly plagued her troubled nights. She was excused from performing, and she had been extremely inactive.

The Graysons were desperately waiting for the adoption papers to be completed, so that they can finally announce that she and a new family and be happy that they filled the depressing hole in her life.

Finally, a month after the event, the papers were completed.

That morning when Rosanna woke up she simply thought that it was going to be just another painfully boring day, but the Graysons had hidden the secret well from her.

As she trudged to breakfast, she got bit suspicious of the huge grins everyone was wearing.

"G'morning, Aunt Marie, did something happen?" she asked hesitantly.

"Rose dear, call me Mom from now onwards." Marie said.

Words could not have described the crazy flow of unidentified emotions that flooded through the young mind of Rosanna, as she heard the words leave Mary's mouth.

"Huh?" Rose asked, hope building, "W-why?"

The Graysons were feeling so proud of themselves, that there already huge grins, spread even further, if that was physically possible.

"We are your family now, Rosanna, yes and Dick is your brother" John explained.

Rosanna was crying tears of joy at the good news presented to her. She can't believe it, she had a new family!

After everything fate put her through, she thought she would never break out from the shock, she would never recover.

But now she could finally call someone her parents and know that she had a loving foster brother.

"Thanks, Mom…Dad,' Rosanna said, suddenly flinging herself at them, in a bear hug, which Dick joined soon after.

As intimidating a foster family would sound, this particular family could be anything but foster in Roses heart. She would always obey what her parents told her, and now she was sure they would ask her to accept the Graysons as family, and she had no problem in accepting that.

After the Graysons had officially adopted Rosanna and she began living in their trailer with them, she had miraculously gained a huge appetite, and she performed even more enthusiastically those days.

Though the nightmares were yet to cease, Rose had managed to fling herself out of depression, and you'd always see her smiling. Her relationship with The Graysons had grown quite strong in the few past weeks, and they all were like open books to each other.

Every day, when Rose would wake up, she would run straight to the dining room, or else they'd eat with uncle Haley sometimes, then they'd perform, and lunch followed soon after, then she'd play with Dick and study a bit with Aunt Mary, no, Mom and after a satisfying dinner later, they all would peacefully drift off to dream world.

The Graysons did a good job and Rosanna never missed her family as much, Dick was a great brother to have and there weren't any words to express how much she loved John and Mary as her parents.

Life was good for this extended family, Haley was like a grandfather to the children, and there wasn't a reason good enough for them to part.

And so 2 Years passed, the family grew closer and the children matured. But they were still the happy-go-lucky children they were and their endless mirth always surfaced.

But they did not know that there series of tragedies wasn't over yet.

Everyone woke up the next morning, the bright sunrays promising a cheerful day ahead. Today was going to be their biggest performance, because Bruce Wayne was coming to watch it!


	2. Adoption

**Chapter 2**

**A/N: THANK YOU SO MUCH TO piggythelaw FOR BEING THE FIRST REVIEWER TO THIS CHAPTER!**

**I CAN NEVER REPAY YOU.. all I can say is thnx thnx thnx thnx thnx!**

**And your guessing what this stories coming to correctly.. Its gonna get interesting!**

**…..**

After breakfast the whole make believe family entered the gigantic tent their hearts fluttering, waiting eagerly for their performance.

The children had literally lost their appetite out of excitement and all they could really do was brag about how better than each other they were.

If only they got a peek into the future…

_Lately…_

_Dick was passing through the tent casually, he knew it like the back of his hand so there were very less chances of getting lost in the confusing corridors. _

"_I'm not giving you any protection money!" Dick heard his father. He sounded angry._

"_But you know you need it. John..." he heard another persuasive voice._

"_We are protected well enough. Not like we need any more of it" John insisted._

"_I know you don't like living in a slummy circus, John" he heard the same voice again. Insistent apparently._

"_For your information. We have been living here ever since Dick was born, and we are used to the limited facilities over here. Now if you will excuse me, I have a show to perform." John said decisively._

_He saw Dick crouched in the corner and he immediately hurled him up and held him close._

"_Don't worry,son. No crazy old man is going to take our livelihood away." He assured his son._

_Dick caught a glance of the man grin cruelly, before his father carried him away._

…

"And now.. for our most beloved performers, the Flying Graysons!" Halys announcing voice echoed in the microphone.

"Finally.." Both the kids heaved, as they climbed up the trapeze ladder.

The view of the cheering audience was breathtaking yet deafening. Out in the corner the little performing group spotted Bruce Wayne smiling encouragingly at them.

Eventually, the music began, the melodious notes floating in the air signaling the start of their performance.

As usual, there was no net supporting if they fell, but their expertise and experience in the art of acrobatics would outrun those chances.

John looked over happily at the little family pulled together from scratch, feeling pride overwhelm him as he threw himself off the counter, holding firmly on the thin rod to hang.

Over the ear splitting noise of the audience cheering, no one heard the springs creak up ahead.

The pride of her occupation and mirth of her audience soon overtook Marie and she too jumped off and the two elders began their much awaited performance.

"Amazing performance is it not?" Tony whispered, hidden among the crowds, as he peered gleefully into the popcorn cup which contained screws which were meant to be holding up the metal rods on the trapeze.

It wouldn't take a detective to guess what aspired next.

Soon after, Marie reached out a hand to her 9 year old son, but something totally out of the blue happened, which ripped the happy family apart.

As John held her feet, flinging her up, she noticed the metal rods squeaking unpleasantly, and she saw the screws were missing.

She realized they were going to fall, and as desperately as she wanted to tell her children she loved them, fate played its role, and did not give her a chance.

And as they went down, the last word which escaped her desperate lips were"Dick…"

And as the children saw their parents go down, grief washed over them as they knelt to the ground, wondering what wrong they did to deserve this punishment.

Bruce did not, could not believe the scene that took place in front of him a few minutes ago, that horrible incident reminded him of his own dissatisfactory childhood.

He was not going to let these children suffer the same.

That night as the two children forced due to the circumstances had to go to an orphanage, they looked back at the circus tent and their trailer, wondering what was going to happen to them.

Bruce watching from a distance saw the automobile leave, and he dashed into the messy trailer, and grabbed few things which he assumed were precious to these children.

…

The next day he visited the orphanage, and he asked the receptionist, what room were the children who had been admitted yesterday in.

It did not take him more than two minutes to find it, thanks to his navigation skills and he entered, seeing the young girl sobbing on the bed, and the boy's futile attempts at calming her.

How heartless can people be?

"Uh.. you are the two children who were performing yesterday, aren't you?" he asked.

The sudden presence of his deep voice in the room startled the young people and they jumped up suddenly formality possessing them, as they offered him a seat.

Taken aback by their sudden outburst, Bruce took a step back, meaning to exit the room.

But he had business to do….

"Actually, I wanted t give you both something..." he said hesitantly.

"Yes sir, please do" Dick said trying to be polite.

"Oh, no, please don't be so respectful, I'm just like a friend, believe me.' Bruce said. Their formality was beginning to make him uncomfortable.

"I have a few things, which I think are of importance to you.' He began, opening the suitcase and handing them its contents.

"Peanut!" Dick gasped, clutching his stuffed toy elephant to his chest, in utter happiness.

"Is there anything for me?" Rosanna asked, hope glimmering in her deep eyes.

"Yes dear," Bruce answered, handing her an album of the pictures she took with the Graysons and her own family while they were….

She eagerly opened it, but unfortunately the first picture was of her original family and she broke into tears, once more.

Losing her parents was a tragedy heavy enough to equal a mountains weight on her chest, but losing her step parents; even without spending quality time to remember with them was crushing. It was like losing her parents twice, and apparently, life did not give her another chance.

She scurried away to a little cupboard in the wall and hid the painful reminder as deep in her clothes as possible.

"Actually, I'm here for another reason as well."

Both their heads napped around hoping for more good news to drown the sadness.

Then Bruce said something totally unpredictable and that sent the kids into a frenzy of deciding what to say, which they, in fact, could not decide.

"I want to adopt you children."


	3. The Seperation

**Chapter 3**

**A/N: Major thanks to my latest reviewer lovinurbuks! You guyz keep me motivated!**

**piggythelaw, thanks soooo much for sticking by me and the story! And cookies for you too! Now the plot gets twisted, see what happens, they will part in this chapter…**

**And lovinurbuks, thanks for liking this story… you made me update actually.. lolz**

**K! On with the story…**

**…**

"Oh, that would be awesome!" Dick suddenly piped up."We won't be as lonely anymore!"

"We do accept your offer, !"Rose continued enthusiastically."Oh, when do we leave?"

Bruce was not expecting such a positive outlook from the kids on his idea. All he wanted to do was keep them happy, and help them get out of their pit of bottomless misery. But to them, adoption was more like a security blanket, knowing they are safe and well protected in his mansion.

"Actually, the adoption papers are yet to be completed, it might take some time." Bruce replied

"Please take all the time you need Mr. Wayne."Dick said, getting up, grinning happily.

"Oh yes, please get the work done as soon as possible!" Rosanna quipped, jumping up from her seat on the bed.

And then the children literally pushed a really happy Bruce Wayne out of the room and as he walked away, he could hear the happy cheers of two innocent souls echo in generally lonely bedroom he was just thrown out of.

Oh, the advantages that comes with being a billionaire…

….

Currently, Bruce was at the reception, waiting in a pretty long queue to go and just sign those documents and carry the little critters away. He couldn't wait for all the chaos that he assumed would soon take place in his large, lonely manor.

He smirked, thinking about Alfred's reaction to the little surprise he was bringing home.

After lots of boredom and waiting, finally his turn came up as he approached the counter.

The services sucked here.

"So, basically, you want to adopt these children, who came here yesterday? Really?" The already annoying receptionist was now being skeptical.

"Yes, I do. For the most part." Bruce said trying to cool down his infuriation with the time everything took here.

"I hope you know that adoption papers aren't signed here, you can just inform the management about the child your taking, and that's pretty much it." The receptionist was finally being helpful.

Wow, certainly no security here.

"Actually, I didn't. But thanks for the information. I am going to fetch those kids." And with that Bruce turned around, only to be stopped by the receptionist.

"You can't take two kids, sir. The rule implies only one at a time."

Disappointment washed over Bruce with those words, as he turned around, fuming, yet controlling his temper.

"Can't you make an exception?" He asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry, no, sir"

"Just this once?"

"No."

"I see you have a lot of things to watchover, but once wont hurt!"

"Sorry, sir."

That was the last thing Bruce was having, as he finally lost it, and he wagged a finger in the receptionists face.

"I hope you know who I am. You can easily accept some money and give me the children." He said, trying to not raise his voice.

"You have to abide by the rules, sir!" The woman retorted.

"Excuse me, are you done yet?" A random person behind Bruce, asked angrily.

He really did not realize how long had he been arguing.

"Fine.." He gave in.

….

As he slowly trudged towards their room, just another bad news for the two broken children, he wondered how he would express it.

He knocked on their door, it flung open almost instantly, and the kids literally hugged Bruce and 'Can we go now's' burst from their mouths.

"Listen, I have something to tell you. Promise me you won't be sad." He said slowly.

The grins were immediately wiped from Dick and Rosanna's faces as they looked at Bruce with puppy eyes.

"Look," he began hesitantly."I tried…I really did. But they did not allow me to take you both.. I am afraid only one of you can come."

And he just waited; his eyes were glued to the ground. But when he looked up, he saw the two friends hugging each other, as though they knew they had to leave. As cute the scene was, Bruce knew this was no time to croon over adorable sights. Then Rosanna said something Bruce certainly did not expect to hear.

"Dick will go with you, we already thought it over. We expected something like that would happen."

So they really did know they had to leave.

He felt bad ripping them away from each other, each other being the closest thing they had to family. But if he could make even one of them happy, he would take the chance. That's what he was doing here, and since the kids specially planned everything out, and they seemed fine with it, he thought that they don't mind.

'Look, I am really sorry, but-"

"No need to apologize, Bruce, we are used to it." Dick replied almost calmly.

"Please, go ahead and say goodbye." Bruce replied, trying to not make his voice shake.

Dick suddenly ran to the wall-cupboard thing, reached out a hand and out came his beloved plushie, which he handed to Rosanna.

"Take this, Rose." He said smiling sadly.

"You are giving it to me?"

He just nodded shortly and thrust it into her hands.

Tears ran down both their cheeks, as they shared a final hug, and parted.

"I will bring Dick to meet you one day." Bruce promised.

And with those words, the big man, and the little figure beside him exited the room, leaving a sobbing little girl crying behind.


	4. Determination

**Chapter 4**

**A/N: May God bless all those wonderful people who reviewed and more than just made my day…**

**Even a single word, makes me go psychic, and I earn some weird looks from people.**

**BUT THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH AND I DON'T NEED A PSYCHOLOGIST!**

**Maybe…..**

**…**

(With Dick)

The long, sleek, black car stopped in front of a humongous, ornate mansion, and as Dick got out of it, he could not help but gawk at it with his mouth open.

Besides, being huge, it also had detailed designs on it which made the young lad wonder how long it took to make it, and how much money too. He wondered how many people lived there.

After all, a billionaire should live like a billionaire…

But a gypsy like him valued money too much to let it go to waste like that….

"Welcome home, Dick." Bruce broke Dick out of his thoughts, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, as Dick began to hesitantly step towards the house.

Bruce took the lead, and side stepped Dick, approaching Wayne Manor faster, Dick trudging along behind him.

As they entered it, Bruce began calling out, for some person named Alfred. And it wasn't long, before, a lithe old man, with a pleasant face came chortling down a stairs, a rag in hand.

Despite, the man's seemingly cheerful nature, Dick could not help hiding behind Bruce. But Bruce unknowingly denied protection, revealing Dick exposed behind him, a little defensive.

"Oh, you must be Master Dick." Alfred said knowingly, catching a glimpse of the tiny figure beside Bruce's more buff one.

Dick did not notice Bruce give Alfred a 'How did you know' sort of a look, to which Alfred just winked in response.

"Lunch is nearly ready, but circumstances require Master Bruce to attend to his duties more…" He continued.

"You could have just said, he won't have lunch with us." Dick slurred.

"Go ahead, and explore the manor" Bruce urged him, having a little talking to do with Alfred about hacking into the Bat computer.

"I miss Rose' Dick complained.

Those three words sent pangs of guilt racing through Bruce, who suddenly found the floor interesting.

Alfred glared at Bruce…Of course he got all the information from the Bat computer...

…

(With Rosanna)

All she could do, was sit on the bed, more lonely than she had ever been, just trying to not let the tears shed been holding spill out.

She had no track of time. Lately, a nurse had dropped off 'dinner' at her room.

It just lay untouched on the dresser. Rose had more important things to worry about.

She wondered where did Bruce take Dick, what he was doing, whether he was asleep or thinking about her….

…like she was thinking about him…

She lay down on her bed, clutching her sheets close to her, as she finally let the tears out.

Will she ever get out of this place?

The bright golden rays made their way through her curtains the next morning. But instead of defining happiness, it just promised more pain and suffering caused by a new day.

She was abruptly woken up by a burly guard, rubbing her eyes, which seemed painfully swollen.

That's when she realized, she still had Peanut, her arms wrapped around it protectively. She got out of bed, and trudged to a tasteless, boring, quiet breakfast, which was no more than bread and milk.

She really wanted to get out of this place…

After the pinch of breakfast, she returned to her room, more like torture chamber. She sat herself in front of the dresser and looked at her reflection staring right back at her.

In the background, she saw Dicks, no her Toy elephant, looking at her as though offering comfort from the acid churning in her stomach.

She never wanted to lose it. She would keep it forever…and ever and ever.

She walked over to it, her footsteps echoing in the nearly barren room. Sitting down on the, no her bed she hugged the plushie once more to her chest.

The feeling of possessiveness seemed to swallow her, as though sweeping her negative thoughts away.

If she could make things belong to her, she can also make her life belong to her. It already did, she just had to stop people from controlling did not have to let somebody order her, and her life.

She _must_ get out of this place...

There were enough reasons to make even the most patient paerson, lose control and bust themselves out of this hellhole...

...She _will_ get out of this place.

…..

**A/N: Ya, She's gonna run away…**


	5. Phoenix

**Chapter 5**

**Woooh! I never expected this story to receive even a review!**

**U guys are amazing!**

**And major thanks to piggythelaw for waiting so eagerly for updates, being my first reviewer and everything else…**

**BTW, I am going to skip 4 years in this story, which means, Dick is already Robin, but for Rosanna,**

**;-)**

**Course there will be flashbacks which will tell you everything that's happened.**

**(Psst, Disclaimer alert…)**

**I had been avoiding this, but oh well…**

**I DON'T OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT MY LAPTOP, TOOTHBRUSH AND A COUPLE OTHER THINGS…**

**U get the message…**

**…**

You never know what life has in store for you.

It leads you down a straight smooth path, suddenly dividing it into two ways, decisions of life which determines who you are inside…

_4 years later…_

"Give it back, Baywatch!" Artemis's infuriated voice echoed throughout the cave.

"Make me!" Wally retorted back.

"I just asked you to stop humming…and tapping! Not start a war!"

"If you won't let me tap or hum, you better serve as my entertainment!"

"Just go back where you came from!"

"I…"

Of course they were fighting; it was part of their reputation. It began with Wally humming, and Artemis asking him to straightforward shut up, then he began tapping, and Artemis glared at him, Wally did stop it, but he had to take revenge, by suddenly snatching the remote away and switching off the huge television, followed by a shriek from a very angry Artemis, and everyone knows not to be around a very angry Artemis…

… except Wally.

That's how they began fighting on the semicircular sofa, a bruise already forming on Wally's jaw.

Don't even ask why_ Artemis _and _Wally_ were sitting on the same sofa…

"Robin, B-0-1" the mechanical, yet womanly voice of the zeta tube announced Robin, the Boy Wonder's arrival.

"Sheesh, get over it and accept your liking for each other, you two!" He teased the fighting couple on the Sofa.

"WE DON'T LIKE EACH OTHER!" they screamed simultaneously, the poor remote tumbling off the couch and sliding beneath it.

They glared at Robin, who casually walked away.

"And stop flirting so openly!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Batman, 0-2"

That made them shut up, but not move away from top of each other.

Batman's usual stoic face appeared from the tube, his long dark cape crusading behind him.

Robin's masked face popped out of the doorway, and he had to stifle his laughter at what happened next.

"Team, mission briefing." And he just walked past the awkward situation on the sofa. With a brief "Ack" from Wally, before Artemis nearly throttled him, they both jumped up, sheepishly following batman out of the hall as Robin switched off his camera. He just had to record it…

…and put it in the Justice Leagues security cameras…

"There's been some unauthorized import of drugs from this harbor. It apparently does not have a name, but we are expecting it to be affiliated with The Light." Batman began.

The whole team was standing uniformly in front of the huge screen which displayed the information, blinking on certain spots, while some of them randomly moved around.

"You all have to just stake out the area and…"

"Do not engage!" Robin completed for him.

Batman directed his infamous Bat glare at Robin, but nodded nonetheless.

"And I expect all rules to be followed." He concluded, turning around at the young vigilantes and scrutinizing them carefully, to emphasize his point.

"Yes, sir. We won't let you down." Aqualad said in his usual monotone, formal way of speech.

With another nod, Batman made his way to the zeta tubes, and transported himself away to the Watchtower.

"I hope we all understand the mission," Aqualad said eyeing robin specially, "only collect information, no hand-to-hand combat."

And so M'gann summoned her alien spaceship over outside the cave, as The Team ran or flew outside, mounting the Bioship, and heading their way to the unnamed harbor.

…

"KF, stop fidgeting!" Robin whisper-screamed at his best friend from behind the cartons they were hiding behind.

"You don't have the metabolism of a speedster!"

"Pfft…"

After 20 more minutes, 3 punches to the arm, and several unfinished science lectures later…

"Look, someone's, on patrol, of this place!" Robin whispered.

Finally, something to do, than listen to hi-fi sciencey legends…

It was a young girl, with a full body black suit, with some neon orange ribbons at symmetrical areas, and a…domino mask.

"Oooo, she's pretty.." That would be Wally.

"You can't see her eyes; it's a mask, genius!"

"Yea, I saw her before you did, Boy Blunder!"

Suddenly, she whipped around, and her hands were…on fire?

And she was not getting burnt?

Robin clasped a gloved hand on Kid Flash's big mouth, before squeezing them both into a corner, the shadows swallowing them.

She heard them, she heard them, she heard them…

The girl's hands stopped cooking, she closed her eyes beneath her mask, and moved her hands in S shapes, breathing deeply.

Her masked eyes suddenly shot open, and she fired at the area where Wally and Robin were sandwiched into.

"KF!" Robin screamed scrambling onto his back, "Run!"

That was what Wally was born to do.

The cartons slowly burnt away, the flame extinguishing and the singed ends revealing themselves.

Finding nothing there, she just turned and walked away, as though nothing had happened.

The tenacious trio hidden safely beneath some rugs, now scrambled out, heaving uncontrollably.

"They stink!" Wally whined

"Complaint box…" Robin muttered.

Then they began to slowly walk though the long dark hallways, taking in every detail of the boxes stacked raggedly, the smelly carpets and some vials of…substances.

Robin was passing by the vials, when he suddenly reached out and was about to grab one as specimen, when suddenly, something dark, yet bright dropped down from the rafters above.

Landing between Robin and the glass tubes.

"Who are you?"

It was the same girl they encountered earlier!

"Uhh, Robin?"

For a second or two, Robin forgot his own name.

"Call me Phoenix."


	6. The Search

**Chapter 6**

**A/N: Uhh… I can't think of anything…**

**UPDATE!**

**…...**

_Earlier:_

_"Who are you?"_

_It was the same girl they encountered earlier!_

_"Uhh, Robin?"_

_For a second or two, Robin forgot his own name._

_"Call me Phoenix."_

"Huh?" Robin asked genuinely confused "Why are you telling me your name?"

"I want you to know me, that's why!" She retorted.

Robin looked at her with a 'What the heck' look on his face. She attacks them, and walks away like a party just ended, now asks for help?

Weird….

"But why do you want me to know you?"

"It's complicated; just get me out of this place, please!" She pleaded.

What if this was a trap? She was sure good at emotionally blackmailing.

What if she really needed help?

The what-ifs clouded over Robin's mind, and he only though of one thing to say.

"Uh, we are not allowed to engage with…villains." And with that Robin grabbed Kid Flash and jumped to the dusty rafters above.

He felt bad leaving behind someone in need, but he had to be selective in saving people, besides, Batman hated orders disobeyed. And he couldn't be sure about anything without proper evidence.

As he climbed through the narrow pipes, he could hear her distressed voice-

"But I am not a villain!"

As if he would believe that so easily.

….

"Dude, she was asking to elope with you!" Wally was sounding like a child whose lollipop had been snatched away.

"Yeah, so?"

"So? You should have totally taken the chance!" Wally whined.

"KF! She was a villain! We are not even supposed to talk to them, leave alone helping them!" Robin said his voice low.

Wally just looked at him; he had never seen him so angry before.

He had known him as a go-with-the-flow kind of guy, totally carefree and finding a joke in everything.

"Sorry." He muttered.

Just then, Robin realized he had just lost his temper for a really silly reason.

"KF, look, I am really sorry, I just feel, so confused, why was she asking for help? She had attacked us! How can she believe we'd trust her so easily?" Robin asked, or said.

"So you realize your mistake?"

"Yeah, sorry."

"I hate not knowing what to do…" Robin said.

Suddenly Wally's idea bulb glowed. Just another one of his crazy plans…

"You know what? We can search for her and ask her why, it won't hurt!" Kid Flash offered.

Someone ought to break that bulb….

"But Batman would eat us for dinner!" Robin protested.

"I thought I was supposed to be the whiny one."

And that's how they began their own stakeout, for a mysterious Phoenix, or more like a lost girl.

They staked out every nook and cranny, but god knew where she had disappeared. She was certainly not patrolling anymore.

This place was vast and confusing, were ware houses supposed to be soo…huge?

But they were sure to stumble upon some sign of where to turn to.

"Hmm, this corridor is strangely warm…" Kid Flash said in a low voice.

He suddenly ran over to a crouching Robin."Rob! Come here, you have to see this!"

"What?" Robin asked in a bit of an irritated voice, he had been collecting bits of those liquids when Wally called him.

But nonetheless, he followed him into another dark alleyway, it was completely bare of any goods, just swelteringly warm. Kid Flash touched some parts of a wall, as though searching for something.

"Touch, its really warm here, and its scorched!" Wally whispered.

"You are right!" Robin gasped. A thought swept over him.

"When we rub something against a rough surface for a long time, it combusts, right?" Robin wondered out loud

"Yeah, it does."

Robin suddenly grabbed Wally's hands, and said "Rub your hands super speed right here."

"Dude! Not interested in getting barbecued!" Wally said in pure horror.

"Just do it!"

So Wally's hands scraped over the rough surface, gaining speed, until steam began rising of the walls.

Robin watched with growing anticipation, as Wally gave him a pathetic look.

They did not know if this would work, but it was worth a shot.

Out of the blue, the wall slid aside, with a screech, revealing an all white room, while Kid Flash blew at his poor hands in an attempt to cool them down.

"I knew this would happen!" Robin cheered triumphantly.

"Sorry, about your gloves." Robin apologized. Wally's gloves were blackened and scorched, like the wall.

"Whatever."

As they entered the room, eyes scanning for any sign of life there, they heard a gasp.

It would have taken a lot to miss the little dark figure in the corner of the seemingly vast, white room.

"We found her." Robin said his eyes wide.

They took in the view of the room, completely white, with just a bed in the corner.

The girl had noticed them standing in the doorway, but stayed stationary in her corner, as though they would attack.

Then she said something both, stupid yet alarming.

"I know one of you is Martians, I want to skip training for today."

"No, we are not Martians, we are the real us, the ones you met earlier, believe us."Robin tried to drive her blues away.

"Make me believe it."

"Look, we just want to ask you why you wanted to get out of here, you seem to be a valued guard, and why did you attack us?" Wally spoke up.

"I attacked you? " She asked.

"Yeah, you did, and then walked away like nothing happened!" Robin said a little annoyed.

Why was she pretending she did not know?

"Oh, maybe I was under telepathic supervision, you know, that happens a lot." She said.

"Oh, we thought-"

"-That I was a trained villain assigned to kill intruders?!" She said, clearly angry.

"Yeah"

"So, you are getting me out of here?"

"Yeah.

"Is 'yeah' all you are gonna say?"

"Nope"

"Just get out of here."

**A/N: how was that Lattest chapter?!**

**Worked hard on this one, you know?**

**A huge huge huge huge thank you to all my reviewers!**

**That's all I can say…**

**BYE!**


	7. Running Away

**Chapter 7**

**Sorry for delayed chapter, stupid, blasted math's assignment…**

**Guest 2.0. Thnx for the constructive criticism, I appreciate it. Noooooo my character wud never have magic! You will find out how and why in da next chapter, and ya she is a trained assassin. And I will try to make the chappies longer for you!**

**BTW, I despise robtanna… : p**

**Do I really have to go thru this again?**

**I don't own anything, if I did, things wouldn't be so screwed up! Wally wouldn't have died, Kaldur would not be evil, M'gann and super boy would not have broken up….**

***YJ cast muttering to each other* this chick is gone nuts…**

….

"Are you sure about this?" Wally asked."I'm not.."

"You said you were the whiny one!" Robin protested.

"Batman eating us is getting to me now…"

But there was no way they were backing out. Though robin had secretly thought of having Batman question her, he really did not know why she was so hell-bent on getting out of this place.

He watched mutely as she led the way, scurrying down dark passages with a practiced, agile foot.

They made their way out of the room, locking up the secret door behind them, as they walked like a team. Silence prevailed them, no one dared say anything, fearing something else unexpected would happen.

But all silence can't last forever; this one was broken by Phoenix.

"Can I be sure I can trust you two?" She suddenly piped up while they snuck down the hallways they had come from.

Both the others gave her a look, before deciding they had to hear what she had to say.

"Sure as ever." Wally answered before Robin could speak, earning himself a mini-bat glare.

"This is not a warehouse" she began.

"It's…" But she did not get to finish her sentence, as suddenly, something happened which totally took them off guard.

The wall behind them literally blasted itself away, throwing the young vigilantes foots away from where they had been standing.

"It was a trap!" Robin screamed, getting onto his feet, as he shot out a grappling hook, hurling himself away from the explosion, the other two on his trail.

They shot up an elevator shaft, the doors blasted away by a spurt of fire, as they climbed up the metallic rope. Safe, for some time, on another floor, they stopped to catch their breath.

"They knew we were coming!" Phoenix gasped, as she leaned against a wall.

"But how?" Wally wondered.

"Secret hidden cameras!" Robin said in realization. "How could I be so stupid?"

"No time to beat yourself up for it," Phoenix stated, "What should we do?"

Just then, a strange yet familiar sensation entered Kid Flash's and Robin's minds as they felt M'gann probe their minds and connect them together.

*Team! Where are you?* Kaldurs voice was heard through their brains.

*I found something strange…* Artemis answered.

*Me too* M'gann agreed.

*I had to stay with M'gann's pet…* Superboy complained.

*Well we got blasted off, thrown down an elevator, burned and incinerated, and now we have no idea where we are!* Wally screamed in everyone's mind.

*Team, meet me outside the building, we are getting The Leagues help.* Kladur informed, before M'gann broke the telepathic connection.

Wally and Robin shook their heads, feeling suspense overwhelm then again.

They met Phoenix's surprised face at their sudden zone out, as they slowly crouched away deeper into the building.

"What happened, it was as if you both were lost in your own world for a while." They heard Phoenix's voice.

"Actually we were in a telepathic connection, one of our friends is a Martian, you know?" Robin said, getting up.

"Oh, I detest Martians…"

Another weird confused look.

"There's so much to me you don't know." She informed. "But I am willing to tell you everything."

"Thanks, and maybe you know the way out?" Robin inquired.

"Yeah, expect that from me, I know this place inside out." Phoenix said helpfully.

"Come on we have to get out of here." Wally said zooming off into another hallway, leaving them alone.

"Does he always have to do that?" Phoenix groaned.

"Believe me, you have no idea…" Robin said, in agreement.

"Wait, does he know, where he is going?"

They both looked at each other in horror, knowing what was going to happen next.

BAM!

He had given away their hiding place! As he zoomed back in and began speed apologizing.

As if it was the time for that…

"Shut that yapper of yours, and listen up," Phoenix stated firmly. "they will be attacking from there," She said pointing her finger towards the blast, "We will get out of here…" She said pointing away from the shattered glass walls.

"Ok, let's scram!"

They ran down the hallways, retracing their steps, Phoenix in the lead. They came across a few windows but they were too small for escape.

"Do we have to leave through the door?" Phoenix cried as she blasted the little window away, leaving a gaping hole in place of it.

Relief washed over them like a blanket as they recognized the faint invisible outline of the Bioship

"You're a genius!" Robin screamed in triumph as he saw the Bioship pull up at the hole they were standing behind.

"I know that, you guys get inside!" she said pushing them into the red hunk of morphing metal. Then she looked at the team reunited inside, and was stuck in a situation, wondering if she should leave, or stay.

"Who's she?" Kladur asked Robin along with everyone's growing curiosity.

"A savior." Robin answered smiling.

Mean while, Phoenix just stood at the hole she had created, debating and weighing her options.

They_ will _come looking for her, but she did not want to see herself become a villain…

"Come inside!" Robin urged her, "It's okay." He added observing her confused face.

That was enough to persuade her to jump into the ship, a familiar blast suddenly setting itself loose, beautifully illuminating her perfectly hour glass shaped body.

She stumbled nimbly onto the ship, got up and brushed the concrete particles off herself.

"Thanks for inviting me aboard." She said giving a two finger salute.

"Watch out!" M'gann screamed as everyone whipped around to see a giant bullet like thing launched at them, and it was coming fast.

Phoenix tried to get up, but winced and fell, indicating a fracture. But that did not stop her, as she again got up, most of her support on her uninjured right leg, as she closed her eyes, feeling the heat signals emanating from there near killer.

"What is she doing?" Kaldur asked Robin.

"I have no idea..."

She felt the warm liquid pulsing around in the thing, as she began redirecting the heat to slosh faster, activating the explosives, as suddenly, it blasted away with a sickeningly blue flame into nothingness.

The team cheered their getaway, and in the celebrations, ignored Phoenix, who dropped down unconscious.

**A/N: howd'ya like this chap?**

**Dont forget to review, They make me happy...**

**When i'm happy i update more!**

**: p**


	8. Questions

**Chapter 8**

**A/N:I AM SRY! I HATE MY LIFE… and late updates…**

**I give you the permission to hunt me down and eliminate me…**

…**.**

Nobody noticed Phoenix cramped in a corner, her left foot slightly off the ground. She was breathing heavily after all the heat redirection, perspiration breaking out from her forehead, and she was feeling so out of place, maybe being a hero was not her thing after all…

Well not everybody…

As the tem was just beginning to contact The League, somebody noticed a maiden of fire trying to hide herself into the shadows…

Robin noticed her frail form in a corner, and was just walking over to her, knowing very well, how awkward she must be feeling with new company, if she was friend-less all those years in the warehouse, when she saw Robin approaching her, she tried to hop towards him, but suddenly stumbled, dizziness overwhelming her, as she simply slumped to the floor, her ebony hair splaying out in all directions.

"Phoenix!" Robin exclaimed, running over to her, at a speed Wally would be jealous of, and caught her head before it could hit the ground.

"What happened?" Came a certain Martian's worried voice. Everyone suddenly realized, they had been paying no attention at all at their life saver. M'gann morphed her space ship's little area into a mini infirmary, and levitated Phoenix over to it; they broke their connection with The League, and instead focused on getting home and treating their new found vigilante…

….

Phoenix fluttered her eyelids open, and her eyes met abrupt shine of the Cave's lights, as she suddenly realized she wasn't in the space ship after all…

She escaped…she can't believe it…

She suddenly wrenched herself out of bed, but a strange numb feeling in her left leg caused her to lift her covers, and reveal the stark, white cast on her leg.

Was her mask on?

A kind if indescribable fear overtook her, as her hands flew up to her eyes, feeling the familiar coarse fabric of her mask, as she sighed in relief, trying to throw her legs off the bed, unsuccessfully, when a voice, so recognizable, yet so vague broke her out of her futile attempts.

"So you are awake, after all." Why was that voice so familiar?

"R-robin?" She stuttered looking over her shoulder at Robin who leaned in the door way.

She tried to get up from bed and walk, but a stinging pain in her neck stopped her, as she gave up, and threw herself back into bed.

"How are you?" Robin inquired, wearing his famous grin at the sheepish expression on Phoenix's face.

"Pretty fine."

"Yeah, you have a fractured bone, countless burns and a sprained neck; I see you are very fine, strangely." Robin said, cackling.

"Oh, puh-lease, just stop teasing me, I hate being in bed!" Phoenix retorted annoyed.

"Yeah, as though I enjoy it?" Robin asked looking her in the…mask.

And that just told her that he had some other work as well.

"What are you really here for?"

"You said you trusted us." Robin said hope veiling his tone.

"Huh? What information do you want from me?" Phoenix was apprehensive, as she slowly turned herself away from him, burying herself into the sheets.

"Nothing much, just about… where you were kept, how did you get your powers, and perhaps your real name?" Robin straightforward asked her for it.

"I'd actually be glad to provide that information to you." Phoenix sated calmly.

Robin was taken aback. He had actually expected her to put up a fight, lots of persuasion, mental help, and a little blackmail to get the information out of her. This was way too easy.

"Okay?"

"But, I want everyone here, not only you." Phoenix demanded. So robin ran out of the room, returning soon after, with the others on their trail.

And in a few minutes, she had herself propped up on a pillow, The Team gathering at her bedside, the list of questions flooding their mind.

"That warehouse was really The Lights Headquarters," She began." And I was abducted from my house at a young age; I have been through a lot since then."

"Like? How did you get your powers?"

"I… don't know."

"Are you hiding something from us?" Kaldur asked.

"The explosives they used, it is a powerful drug, and I think Bane uses it." She said choosing her words carefully.

"Venom!" Robin yipped as he suddenly grabbed a little book from his belt, and he began frantically writing in it.

"Anything else?"

"No they used to wipe out my memory every three to four weeks." She said, her eyes slightly widening, as she unwillingly recalled the painful experience.

"Wipe your memory? Who used to do it?" Robin asked, excitement brimming.

"Simon."

And that sent M'gann into the kitchen and not long after that, they heard an angry cry of "Stupid muffins!" echo from the kitchen.

"What did you do with the rocket thing?" Robin finally asked the question which had been nagging at him for ever since.

"I redirected the heat from it, I'm a pyrokinetic."She answered his question.

"That's how you found us both behind those boxes, you followed our heat radiations!" Robin uncovered the mystery.

He jotted some more down in his notebook, and slapped it shut.

"Thanks that would be enough for today, just one more question…" Robin said cautiously.

"Shoot."

"What's your name?"

"You were afraid to ask me that question, really?" Phoenix said giggling.

"Uh…"

"It's Scarlet."

"What kind of name is Scarlet?" Wally asked, who had been paying so much attention to her every word, that he was miraculously quiet for a change.

"What kind of name is Wally?" she asked, making everybody present chuckle.

"It's Wallace Rudolph West! And it is not funny!" Wally screamed.

"Would I be shown around this place?" She suddenly asked.

"Why not?" Robin said, as he wheeled a wheel chair near her bed, and began picking her up, when she smacked his hand away, gkaring at him, before scrambling in herself.

"Excellent, where do we begin?" She wondered out loud.

"Oh! How about the members!" She suddenly exclaimed, wheeling over to Kaldur.

"Nice tattoos…" She said, admiring the swirly designs.

"You have blue eyes…." She said, suddenly in front of Conner. Sheesh, she can be stealthy even in a wheelchair.

"So?" Came his grunting response.

"It just reminded me of somebody." She said, intimidated by his outburst.

"Ooh, I always wanted blonde hair!" She said to Artemis, who was taken aback by the sudden compliment.

'And I pretty much know you too." She said, directedly at Robin and Wally.

"Is the Martian baking cupcakes?"

"Actually, her name is M'gann, and she is not baking, she is burning the cupcakes."

She suddenly wheeled herself out of her temporary room, as she appeared in the kitchen, where M'gann was furiously killing a cookie batter.

"You are a Martian; I will have to limit my pyrokinesis to some extent I see." And M'gann just pouted away from Phoe…Scarlet.

"I want to taste your cookies."

"Go ahead."

Behind M'gann, Robin and Wally were doing some fierce hand and head gestures to stop her from eating it, but nonetheless, she popped one in her mouth and chowed down.

"Hmm, I did not have cookies in a long time, these are actually pretty good." She said to every one's surprise.

"But they were burnt…" M'gann said in a sad tone.

"Hey it was your first try at baking, I guess, you will improve over time."

"Thanks Scarlet!" And with that a happy Martian began working on a sloppy cake, while two pairs of jaws hit the ground.

**A/N: Hmm, longer than I usually write…**

**REVIEW!**


	9. Sparring

**Chapter 9**

**A/N:Uh…was the update late?**

**I am sorry I am not updating daily like before, but the workload has dramatically increased. You will bawl your lungs out if you saw my homework's! And besides, I still have not reached 10th grade yet, heck, not even close to 9!**

**But really, you guys and your AWSUM reviews have always motivated me… so yeah, thanks!**

**…**

_2-3 weeks later…_

It was great having Phoenix…or Scarlet on the team.

She was extraordinarily friendly to everyone, regarding the stuff that happened to her. She would have target practice sessions with Artemis, so she was not lonely anymore, an apparently little bundle of happiness always cheering for her when she hit the spot.

Her leg was better now, the sprain in her neck had faded away and she rarely minded the painful, halfway healed scars dotting her body. She went swimming with Kaldur, whenever she could, wolf down food with Wally and eat Megan's burnt bakery, as though it were bought from the market.

But it could be said; she hung out with Robin the most. Training, investigating mysteries, and wresting answers out of his math's homework. Yeah, it was great having her on the team…

Everything was special about her, from the way she looked, to her powers which included heat redirection, sensing heat radiations, literally controlling the way fire swirled around her and many uncovered mysteries. But her extensive training was the most impressive and The Team was ready to bet on hers and Robin's training as well. And one day, she got a great opportunity to prove it.

No senior members had been visiting their little happy world lately, though The League was told about Scarlet and she gave them all the information which she knew. M'gann also checked her mind once to retrieve all hidden information, but there was not any.

Everyone trusted her, as she did with them. But The Dark Knight remained apprehensive of her. Sending glares and unexpected warnings every now and then.

And so their Training mentor was to visit soon and she was really eager to see the new girl's moves.

"Black Canary, 1-3"

"Team, gather up, you have not had a training session for ages, let's see what you remember." Her motherly voice rang out calling all the lazing young people into the main hall, the expanse of glowing white forming a circle, a sparring area on the ground. The team members emerged from the corridors, asking for some other time, which of course was ignored.

"Robin and Kid Flash, you are up." She called the first pair of vigilantes.

Wally let out an exasperated growl, knowing very well, that, that son-of-a-detective will surely win this match.

His negative attitude at the beginning itself, aided him in losing quicker, his feet kicked out from under him, as the machine announced his failure. (A/N: That RHYMED!)

"Ha, being the fastest, you lose the quickest." Robin triumphed in victory, as Wally cursed under his breath, slowly slouching away.

And so, Black Canary set him up with every sparring partner available, and each one of them lost miserably, every match ending with Robin doing his happy dance. And not long after that, all the people, lay crashed on the couch, murmuring hardly understandable things.

"Ok, now who's left?" Canary asked, beaming at Robin.

All eyes turned to Scarlet, who was playing around with Wolf, and having a lot of fun. When Canary called her out, she groaned, before placing a final doggie treat on Wolf's nose, scampering over to the sparring ground.

"Do you think you could spar with Robin?" she asked hesitantly.

"I can beat him up with my eyes closed…" She leered at Robin, standing behind Canary, who felt a tingle of fear run down his back at her words.

In the blink of an eye, they were facing each other, a smug grin gracing their faces. The signal to begin resounded, as Scarlet ran right into Robin, as he dashed toward her, she suddenly side stepped out of the way, making Robin nearly fall, as his eyes went wide. That was not the second minute and he almost lost!

She charged at him again, and he tried using her antics against her, trying to side step away as well, but Scarlet saw this coming, grabbed his arm, and practically flung him away to the other side of the ring. He luckily gained his balance, gracefully flipping through the air and landing clean on his feet.

Scarlet sneered, before facing him yet again, as they began a series of flowing, yet firm moves, which seemed to be choreographed beforehand. It was so quick, even Wally lost track of what was happening. With every move, everyone's eyes went wider and wider until, their eyeballs threatened to fall out of their sockets.

Her hand came down in a light, ticklish karate chop, light enough not to break his neck, the event took him by surprise, and he lowered himself to the ground, giving Scarlet a moment to kick his feet out from under him. He however jumped, her feet passing through harmlessly and smiled, as their fierce, but non-hostile battle continued.

_Back to basics._ Robin thought as he directed a forceful and precise kick aimed for her waist, but she _caught_ his foot, before abruptly twisting it, spinning his whole body around, as he yelped, before beginning to fall for the hard unforgiving floor.

That would have happened if he did not feel a soft, firm hand on the back of his neck, as he opened his eyes, just to meet Scarlet's victorious one and he groaned as she lowered him to the ground, and let go.

"Robin, status: failed." The computer announced for the first time ever, as everyone tried to digest the scene that just transpired in front of the.

"Robin. Lost." Wally said in disbelief, putting his team member's thoughts into words.

"I. Won." Scarlet, sated, pride bubbling up inside her as Robin face palmed. She helped him up and shook hands.

"You actually put up a good fight." She said, trying to cheer him up. "Come on, it was just one lose!"

"I will, beat you next time!" Robin promised.

"If there is a next time, Boy Wonder…"

**A/N: HOW'DYA LIKE THIS CHAPPIE?**

**Plish review, I live on them…**

**: )**


	10. Breakdowns

**Chapter 10**

**Yay! Two updates in one day, I think.**

**Finally! This Story has reached a two digit capter! I never dreamed of coming this far!**

**THNX TO YOU GUYZZ!**

**If you don't review,**

**I'll still write this story…**

**…..**

The Cave was quiet.

Artemis had returned home due to…family issues.

Wally was home for a physics test he had next day.

M'gann was spending quality time with Conner.

Aqualad was at Atlantis, serving his king.

Robin too, wasn't at The Cave. The gods watching from above had an idea where he was…

That left Scarlet alone at the cave. And currently, she was bored, and bad things happened when she was bored…

She roamed the corridors aimlessly, just wandering but she did not dare to invade anyone's privacy. She had been given her own room, and she entered the sparse space, and faced the empty walls. She sighed.

What was she doing?

Her mistakes were uncountable. She ran away from that place. She helped Young Justice. She befriended them. They were enemies, dammit! She did the right thing, then why does she still feel this way? What if they came looking for her? She was risking the entire Justice side. All her new found friends are in danger while she is around.

She was being selfish; she just cared for her well-being. She was just a useless soul. Nobody would care if she died…

Right now, she was alone. She could express her thoughts anyway she wanted. She could…scream out loud and nobody would hear her. She could…

Ever since she was brought to that damned place with a false promise of protection, she had sworn she would always take the justice side. Being trained day in and day out was far beyond exhausting.

She walked over to her desk, yanked out some papers and ripped them to shreds, before vaporizing them, creating a light grey mist in her room, a more depressing place now…

They kept her in tip top shape, for something, she was not told what; she wondered if they would have ever told her, even if she stayed at the HQ. She was torn, a cyclone of emotions she had not felt before raged a storm within her.

Anger, disappointment, confusion, revenge, and something else she cannot place a finger on._…_

_But it was a strong feeling she can't rid herself of._

She plopped down heavily in her bed, and held her face in her palms. She herself did not know why she left. If she wanted to help, she could have stayed and provided them information from there itself…

_What if she got everybody killed?_

She was shaken out of her sea of angsty thoughts by the computer announcing Robin's arrival. So he finally showed up.

She crept out of her dark, soggy, thinking place into the now familiar hall, and saw robin walk casually and drop down onto the couch. She could talk to him, maybe he would understand?

A week ago, M'gann had pulled Artemis along with her to buy Scarlet some clothes apart from her uniform, a white tee, blue jeans, and an elbow distanced blazer. She really liked them. They helped her forget her past life, no matter in how many nightmares it was going to show up in…

She came out, not bothering to be stealthy and stood behind Robin on the couch.

"Hey." She said. Was her voice shaking?

Robin whipped around, looking at her through his sunglasses.

"Hey!" he said more cheerfully. Why could she not be carefree like him?

His happy expression was replaced by a curious one."Were you alone all that time?"

She just nodded, afraid that if she uttered anything,. She would suffer a complete mental breakdown, in front of somebody who thought she was strong. It would ruin her reputation.

Robin was now clearly suspicious. She could tell he was narrowing his eyes behind his glasses, as he got up and circled the couch, over to her. she just stood rigid and firm, unmoving as she let him approach her.

It had been nearly a month since she joined, and yet she could not prove herself worthy of trust. All she did was linger around the cave like a lost soul, with nothing to do, exploring was all…

Robin was right beside her, but she was so lost in her thoughts, she did not notice him hold her hand.

"Is something wrong? You can tell me." He was sounding sympathetic. She really needed comfort right about now.

"Everything is wrong." She muttered.

She looked at him, and his eyes widened

."Are you crying?" He asked in utter disbelief."You can tell me."

Should she tell him?

She suddenly found out he was a few inches taller than her. Why? Was it because he was standing _so close?_

"I know I did the right thing by running away, but, I am so…confused. I-I don't know what to do! Why do I still feel this way?" she did not hesitate anymore to pour out her feelings, she was robbed of in the HQ. for once she did not care what people thought about her, she wanted security.

"It's okay, you will feel that way if you leave some place you have stayed at for a long time." He tried to console her.

'I am worried about getting you all_ killed._ As long as I am around, nobody's safe, get it?"

"How? Scarlet, we are honored to have you on the team." He said, vastly surprised at her weirdish thoughts.

"I am not on the team!" she retorted."Your mentor does not trust me, who knows others do?"

"I trust you, Scarlet, keep you hope up. We wont abandon you so easily. You-you are one of a kind!"

She was crying freely now, she had not in 4 years.

Robin ran his fingers against her scarred arms.

She felt something around her. Was Robin hugging her?

She wrapped her arms around his waist as well, sobbing uncontrollably. Heavens knew what she had been through...

"It's okay." He repeated."I'll always be there for you."

**A/N: Oooh, soo much fluff!**

**Tell me wat u think!**


	11. Sacrifices

**Chapter 11**

**A/N: Yes, I know…super late update. I have my reasons! **

**I got my tonsils removed and I was admitted in a Wi-Fi less hospitable for a week, I had crazy amount of examinations, I had gone to Turkey, and…more exams.**

**But…to make up for the loss, here's an extra long chappie, jam packed with fluff and action!**

**I OWN YOUNG JUSTICE!? Nah…bite me.**

…**.**

Scarlet was just walking down a hallway, casually, doing nothing, when suddenly, the whole Team stampeded across, heading for the mission briefing room.

"Just great." Scarlet murmured. Another mission, and she is not going.

_Ten minutes later_

"Pleease?" She was ready to fall on her knees, she was begging so hard.

"No." came the Dark Knight's melancholy response.

"Gah! Why won't you let me go?!" Scarlet finally let loose the anger she had kept carefully fenced behind the recesses of her brain.

"Prove yourself." Batman said in a totally frustrating voice.

"Well, I can prove myself, only if you let me go!"

Batman fell silent, thinking, well she sure had a point, but he at the same time could not trust her that easily. She was very rebellious, she wouldn't give in…

"Fine." He finally allowed.

Scarlet was ready to launch into the air when…

"But," he began his warning. "anyone gets in trouble caused by you…"

Bats left his threat trail into thin air as he observed her thinking face.

"You have my promise, sir."

Robin's ears perked up. Hah, she just called his foster father 'sir'.

Batman soon allowed the team to disperse and get ready for another stakeout, before he explained the ordeal to them.

He allowed!

Scarlet was obviously, jumping with happiness that even if it was temporary, she would still get to assist the justice side, in peace. And she got the greatest chance to prove herself trustworthy, and she was going to make sure Batman did not treat her like a stranger anymore…

"Change up, everyone!" Wally's happy cheer rang out as he disappeared.

Everybody rolled their eyes, as they parted, to go get in their uniforms.

As the members entered their rooms and began changing, everything fell uncomfortably, eerily quiet.

But for Scarlet, her world had gained a new stripe of happiness. She quickly changed into her uniform, did up her hair in her usual high ponytail, with her bangs falling gently into her eyes. She had to disguise herself with a bit of make up so that the people at the HQ don't recognize her.

She sat down on her bed yet again, thinking intently about what had happened the day before.

XXXX

_As they stood in each other's arms, time stopping for both of them, several questions ran through their minds._

_For Phoenix, she wondered why she felt so safe and secure around Robin. How she lost care of the world and wanted to lose herself in the short moments with him. He seemed so familiar, yet so distant…_

_For Robin, he wondered if The Light would really take her away, whether the Team would lose a truly unique friend._

_Suddenly, something clicked into place in both their minds, as they pulled away from each stuttering and blushing crazily, as Scarlet wiped her tears away._

_They looked at each other again, and burst out laughing._

"_I'm an idiotic person, am I not?" She said trying to lift their mood._

"_Yeah, but you know, you don't have to worry about anyone taking you away. You sure can take care of yourself, and we will always be there for you. And yeah, everyone trusts you on the Team, not completely, but we do." Robin confirmed her safety._

"_Thanks, Robin. That really helped." And with that, she scampered back to her room, to clean up the dark mess that she created in there, and then do some thinking about what she was going to do to earn every one's, specially Batman's trust, just because it was so important and she really dreaded those intense Bat glares…_

_As she turned the corner, Robin couldn't help smiling goofily at her sudden mood swings._

_If only she could go on a mission with them…_

_And little did he know that fate awaited a chance for her the next day._

_XXXX_

As The Team stood in the mission briefing room, Batman observing them carefully, the screen studded with multi colored blinking dots, like before, everyone began to lose their patience. Why was Batman not saying anything?

He finally shifted his stance and turned to the computer and hunched over, typing furiously.

"You have to go back to the ware…Light HQ, and collect samples of as many substances as you can from their Head Offices. There are two of them, one on each floor, the ones Miss Martian and Artemis found. They are modifying Venom and distributing it to certified villains worldwide." He said opening up a new screen and showing them the details.

"Maintain your cover. And. Don't. Engage." He said emphasizing his last words, as he looked at everybody, clearly meaning business. He dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

"Yes sir," Aqualad said as Batman left The Cave with another glare. He was not happy about the mess they created last time.

"I don't want to get us in trouble again." Aqualad said, trying to sound serious, and failing. He was still sounding sweetly polite…

"Please don't break Batman's rules again."

…

The Team exited the Mountain in the Bioship, as they flew for the damned HQ again.

Only information, no fighting.

It was getting uncomfortably quiet in the ship, until…

"Oh, what's the fun without butt kicking?!" Scarlet suddenly screamed, startling everyone.

"I asked Batman that once." Robin piped up, certainly taking her side, "He said that missions were not supposed to be fun."

"Humph." Scarlet made a noise. She really did not like Batman at the moment.

It was not long before their ship landed lightly on the roof, the elegant, velvety night sky stretching over up ahead like a universal ceiling, for them to take cover in, as they all entered the building through a window, and made a direct beeline for the head offices, following the girls commands for once, scampering up staircases, crawling in ventilators, sliding down elevator shafts and evading guards.

Robin hacked into the security system with ease, as the Team entered the large space, with various computers and countless amounts of compartments stacked vertically.

Aqualad began collecting the samples in little glass slides, while Robin and Phoenix hacked passwords, and began to skim through the information hidden beneath loads of files. They found a few things, which robin downloaded on his hologram computer.

Kid flash was running haywire everywhere, searching for any hidden objects, while Artemis and M'gann watched out for guards.

And yet Superboy was assigned to the ship, where he could inform the League if anything gruesome happened.

They continued on their work for a while, without interruptions, until…

"Someone's coming!" Artemis whispered to M'gann as the Martian swiftly set up the mind link, making everyone dizzy, and warned them of approaching danger.

The hackers quickly switched off the computers, and flew to the rafters, as Aqualad picked up his work and tip toed away seeking cover of the shadows lurking in the corners, and Wally ran to hide behind a computer.

"Oh, where could she be?" A cold and angry voice rand out.

"Slade is going to barbecue me!"

And that's when the Team saw Captain Cold and Icicle Junior enter the dingy area, throw a few switches as light flicked on.

As the suspense hung thickly in the air, Aqualad accidentally loosened his hold and dropped a slide, it shattered noisily against the concrete floor, the foul liquid _eating _away at the floor. He held his breath and tried to not think about what was going to happen next.

Both the ice villains whipped around, cold steam rising from their hands, as they slowly circled the boxes Aqualad, M'gann and Artemis were hiding behind, while they tried not to stir.

"Lookee here!" Icicle junior said childishly, waving Captain Cold over.

"Someone has left File 35B open! I remember closing it myself!" He panicked.

"I heard something break…" The larger ice lump slurred, "Something's been messing with us…"

Everyone's eyes widened, as everything seemed to happen in slow motion for the petrified teenagers, they had given their cover away!

Captain Cold squinted and looked to the side, before he whipped around, pulled his frozen arm up, and fired cold flames.

Right at the boxes half the Team was hiding behind.

Aqualad pulled the girls away with him as he tumbled out from behind the boxes.

Artemis began to furiously let go of precisely aimed arrows, as Aqualad summoned the water from the little bucket lying abandoned to his command, forming two of his familiar water swords, as he began swiping them at Captain Cold, who kept shooting ice shards at the heroes.

Phoenix and Robin jumped down from the rafters, where they had been watching, waiting to help.

Jr. caught sight of Phoenix, and in an attempt to make her notice him, he slid forward on two ice skis and making sure Phoenix did not see him, as she could feel heat radiations, not chilling numbness, he quickly threw forth a strong, bulky frozen cage around her, making the mistake of forgetting her infernal powers.

The ice rose around the surprised girl, making her aware of a job to be dome.

From inside the cage, Scarlet smirked at him, suddenly melting the cage to the ground.

"Aw, man!" Jr. yelped as he dodged her flames.

"You think you could take me down with ice?" She asked him laughingly.

"Maybe…" he sneered, abruptly forming a huge bludgeon with his fist, the ice piling on to become a spiked ball, as he swung it in her face.

Scarlet saw her distorted reflection in the ice, and she did not get enough time to react, as something held her back, she suddenly realized a ring of ice around her, squeezing mercilessly.

But she thought fast and ducked, sliding on the now frozen ground, as she let her body temperature rise, melting the ice into stem, and leaving her drenched.

"It's you!" Captain cold screamed recognizing Scarlet, as her makeup washed off.

"So?" she screamed back, obviously annoyed out of her skull.

"Get out of here everyone!" Aqualad screamed, wanting to evacuate, before something even crazier happened.

Apparently nobody heard him, because, the commotion just increased when some people equipped with masks and tranquilizer guns suddenly made their entry and began shooting everyone, making them fall temporarily asleep.

Scarlet was the first one to be hit, as Jr. swung a huge ice sword at the young lady, but a dart swished past Jr. and struck Phoenix, as she began to fall down the sword missed her neck by an inch, instead chopping of half her hair, as she hit the ground.

M'gann, quickly connected telepathically with Superboy, as she told him to notify The League and come and help them.

Superboy followed, and radioed Batman, specifically about what was happening.

Meanwhile, Aqualad noticed Scarlet motionless on the floor, and his brotherly instincts kicked in, as he rushed over to her shaking her violently in a futile attempt to wake her, before cleverly dousing her with water from his bearers.

Phoenix jolted awake, and shook her head, as though trying to clear her thoughts, and then ejected herself off the floor, and ran straight to the computers, and began typing vigorously, much to the teams puzzlement.

She opened up a screen, and typed in the password, which she surprisingly knew, and flicked a switch, before running up and thrusting herself up the wall with a burst of orange and red and began fiddling with something that looked like a control panel, and suddenly all the shooting people, went still, before making a deafening noise and going limp. She had deactivated them!

"They were androids…" Robin said thoughtfully." Of course, she knew…"

That left them with the two ice-villains, who fled, aiming for the door, to obviously go tell the seniors, so that the team doesn't get away.

Phoenix, who was still at the control panel screamed, "Go! Go away everyone! Get to the Bio-ship!"

She clearly meant authority, so everyone had no choice but obey, as they poured out of the supposed HQ, and boarded the ship, which had arrived with Superboy.

Then she did something crazy, she blasted the panel, so the whole building went flying, and the Bioship was pushed away by the explosion, as everyone stared, shocked and speechless.

"Phoenix!" The scream of Robin echoed as the destroyed structure crumbled.

The Team landed the Bioship, and ran as fast as possible to the flaming building.

There was no telling where did Captain Cold and Icicle Junior go.

But it was the same for Phoenix

**A/N: Phew!**

**This took forever to write!**

**But I hope I made it up to you!**

**: )**

**-N**


	12. Hurt

**A/N: Please guys! Review!**

**I'm totally losing interest in this story. I might discontinue it…. : (**

**The reason all my previous reviews, favorites and follows have disappeared is because I had mistakenly deleted this story, and when I managed to recover everything, all my precious was gone! _ (cries uncontrollably)**

**Please help me people…I really want them back…(Cries again)**

…

"Phoenix!" Robin screamed, as the building crumbled down and looked more like a huge grey bundle than a structure.

The stars twinkled reassuringly in the clear sky, as the moon shone with all its glory at the tragic scene.

The building was now just a heap of concrete and bricks. And Scarlet was nowhere to be found.

Everyone had looks of shock and horror, at the completely foolish, but slightly intelligent thing their new teammate had done to maintain their cover and save their lives, and it had worked.

"Phoenix? Phoenix!" Robin was the first one to shout out, but his call simply faded into the distance as he shot his grappling hook onto a solitary wall that was luckily still standing, and he swung down to the ground, away from the Bioship, much to the surprise of the worried teens, still on board the Bioship.

"Scarlet! " Robin decided to call out her real name, still in false hopes that she would respond out of the blue and say she was okay, just like her normal, tough self as before.

The rest of The Team landed down beside him and ran out of the red ship, and everyone began searching for their young friend.

M'gann took the initiative to begin picking up big pieces of rocks away from various places at the same time, as everyone frantically searched under them.

They were just beginning to lose hope, starting to think that the rogues either got her or she…died.

The sound of chunks of rocks being chucked around was heard clearly in the peaceful atmosphere, and Superboy was on the alert for any unusual sounds around.

"Uhhm."

Superboy's sensitive ears picked up the faintest sound of weak heartbeat, and something, or someone…groaning pitifully.

He suddenly bounded away, with a stoic expression on his face, as the others looked after him in dismay.

All the young people looked at each other, confusion scribbled all over their faces, wondering what was more important to the young clone, than the situation they were faced with.

"Everyone!" suddenly his shout pierced the air," Come here!"

The Team did not lose another moment, and in the blink of an eye, they appeared before Superboy, with their own means of movement. They all were more worried about the pyro- kinetics life than being sued by Batman.

Everyone's, specially Robin's eyes widened at the scene in front of them.

Superboy grunted as he moved away one exceptionally wire-y piece of wall away, it was the little control switch panel that Scarlet busted to bring the place down.

As the hunk was heaved away, Phoenix lay scattered under the wall, in a heap all bloody and broken and was moaning and groaning pathetically. Her uniform was torn at various places and her hair seemed unusually short.

"Scarlet?!" Robin gasped suddenly grabbing the underside of her head and gently levering it as he tried to wake her up.

"Scarlet? Are you okay?" He asked her softly.

The young girl heard someone call out her name, but it all seemed so far away, so blurry and foggy. As though she were trapped in a bottomless pit of misery...

"R-robin?" She finall managed to utter his name and relief washed over everyone at seeing her alive.

"We need to get her to the cave." Aqualad implied.

"Can you move?" Wally asked in a small voice.

"I..s-sure can." Phoenix let out her pained words, her independent side surfacing, as she accepted help from Robin anyways, leaning on him slightly as she began to get to her feet, her whole body throbbing madly.

As she staggered to her feet, most of her body weight on Robin, she just began to decrease her hold on him, until she felt a shock beginning from her head, down to her feet, overwhelm her senses. The world began spinning and slowly dissolving off into darkness, yet again.

Suddenly, she gasped and winced before going limp in Robin's arms.

"What happened?!" Robin was worried and scared, and he had no idea why.

M'gann again put her telekinesis to good use, and picked up Phoenix, using her mind power to keep her firm and stable.

"She fainted again."M'gann said, as she gently levitated her body a little higher, to get her into the ship and let out a surprised and shocked yelp.

"Oh my god! Almost all her bones are broken!" She exclaimed, as she hurried up the process of getting everyone into the ship, as they quickly flew off to Mount Justice, their ship completely invisible against the elegant velvet of the night sky.

…..

It had been less than a month since Phoenix had completely healed from her old battle scars, and there she was again, lying on the exact same bed she was confined to a week ago, with Robin at her side, while the other members called Canary to inspect the damaged she endured.

"What. Happened?" Canary's voice had a dark undertone, as she emerged from the Zeta-tubes, and giving one hard glare to the poor teens, made a straight target to the infirmary, where the young lass lay covered in poorly done up bandages.

"Batman-assigned-us-that-mission-and-everything-was-going-smooth-until-two-of-those-busted-ice-villains-showed-up-and-some-weird-robots-attacked-us-but-we-got-away-thanks-to-Scarlet-but-she-did-a-crazy-thing-and-demolished-the-building-so-it-all-crashed-on-her-and-now-she-is-very-much-hurt." Wally super sped through the details and smirked at the confused expression on everyone's faces.

"Aqualad, repeat." Canary said, giving Wally a disdainful look, that made him crouch down and sulk away, while Kaldur explained the whole escapade and expressing his worries for their youngest friend, as Canary tried to digest the whole ordeal she was suddenly faced with.

"How is she now?" Canary asked, but the expressions on all the young faces encompassing her was enough answer, as she looked at the various monitors, that Scarlet was hooked up to.

"Her condition is going from bad to worse." She said, making M'gann gasp. "But that's not the only problem, she has fallen into a minor case of coma."

Everyone's worry deepened. It was her first official mission and she was just so happy about it. They felt guilty that she took the pain to keep them safe.

"Can you help?" Robin asked.

"That's what I am doing right now."

Then Canary sent all the teens into the hall while she worked on her coverings. The ones M'gann had telekinetically wrapped around her made her look like a disgraceful mummy and by now, they were completely soaked up with the salty maroon liquid that as continuously oozing from her many wounds. A building had climaxed on top of her alright…

Her face had lost all color and even her brilliant ebony locks seemed to have acquired a grey tinge to it. Her luscious long tresses were now cropped short, thanks to the ice blade. Her lips were turning blue, and when Canary removed her gloves, she was shocked to see old pink-grey marks covering her hands, as though they were really old scars.

Canary had less expectations for this individual, but that did not mean she had entirely given up hope.

She worked for two hours straight on fixing her fractures and bandaging her up, applying anesthetics so that if she does wake up by any chance, she would not have to stay completely immobile at the thought of wrecking herself up further more.

While Canary worked diligently, yet mysteriously silently, the Team paced around the kitchen and hall, perplexed expressions plastered on their faces. M'gann tried to bake and not think about what was happening with Scarlet, as Aqualad just sat on the sofa, Robin was trying to contact Batman, to everyone's dismay, as Superboy stared at a static screen, it was his courtesy that Scarlet would be alive anyways.

After their long wait was over, Canary finally left the infirmary, telling them truimphantly that the girl was a fighter and she had snapped out of her coma. She was asleep, Canary told them, and dared them to try to wake her up, and the young people's faces were all asking the same question.

"Can we go see her?"

Canary answered their question pretty quickly, "Yes, but don't disturb her."

The whole parade of teens barged into the little medical room as the familiar smell of disinfectant hit their noses and they cringed, but everyone's eye caught the little frail figure lying limp on her side on the white bed which was seemingly vast, dressed in a light blue gown and looking lifeless.

"Scarlet?" Robin was abruptly at her side, and holding her hand.

"Dude! You don't want to wake her up!" Wally whisper-screamed. He was clearly afraid of Canary's wrath.

"Actually, I do." Robin said, as everyone's mouth dropped open.

"But not so fast. M'gann, can you go into her mind and see what made her break the switch to bring that warehouse down?" Robin asked as everyone squinted at him.

A look of horror overcame M'gann's face, but she nodded slowly and most questioningly.

"I-I think, but why do you want to know?" M'gann was being suspicious.

"That was really stupid of her, I want to know what she was thinking about when she did that." Robin cleared everyone's doubts.

"Ok…" M'gann's voice trailed off, as she concentrated on the task at hand and let her eyes glow, obstructing everything else from view.

She reached into her brain, delving into the depths of her secrets. The place was dark, she had to say, but many things were covered up, _like mental defenses, _M'gann thought.

She suddenly felt a warmth around her, and then everything suddenly went darker than before, as she was surprisingly thrown out her little mission of obtaining answers, as she landed in Superboy's arms, mentally defeated.

She was in a daze for some time, but she shook her head hard and looked down.

"Her defenses are strong," M'gann said in pure disappointment. " And many of the things were…veiled so I could not see them."

"Oh, crud." Robin said sadly.

But suddenly Scarlet's eyes shot open, and she began gasping crazily.

"NO!" She yelled, to everyone's surprise. "P-please don't do that again, it's too painful…"

"Scarlet!" Robin said, happy yet confused in a way. As he suddenly gathered the broken and shivering girl up in his arms, as she most surprisingly hugged back.

The little scenario was brought to an abrupt stop, as the pair realized the other people there were giving them weird looks.

"Scar, what is too painful?" Aqualad asked, choosing his words carefully.

"Going into my mind like that." She said as M'gann shot her an apologetic look and she mouthed the words 'It's Okay'.

"Psimon used to do that back at the warehouse. Brings back memories." She said. A sudden realization struck her as she wondered out loud " What happened to it anyways?"

"Well, you most surprisingly brought the entire place down." Robin said, thinking he will get the answers to his question now.

"Yes! " Scarlet was so happy, it confused the other teens." Finally! I knew I would be the one to destroy that darned place!" She sprang up in bed and pumped a fist in the air, but a blast of pain pushed her back into the bed, as she winced a little loudly and brought it back down.

"Yeah, all your bones are broken." Wally said pessimistically.

"Dammit." She muttered under her breath.

"Were you brought up there?" Robin's curiosity never died.

"Sort of…At least that's what they used to tell me there. I don't remember anything from my past." She said. But secretly, she was lying through her teeth and nobody noticed that. But she really did not remember her past, so it was not a thing to lie about.

"I don't think you will be able to move for the next few weeks..um..uh, days, yeah right, days." Robin said changing his words at the last minute as Canary who suddenly appeared at the doorway glared.

"Canary says, you have to rest as much as possible, and someone will be in charge all the time." Superboy who was quiet was long enough suddenly yipped right into the conversation.

"Why...?" She whined almost childishly.

"Because you are rebellious, persistent and I know you will try to get out of bed when no one is around." Canary said, squinting her icy stare a little bit.

"And Wally will be first in charge."

"Oh, crud."

**A/N: TADA!**

**Was it long enough I stayed away?!**

**Um..Guys, not demanding anything, but please review or I will abandon this story.**

**What's the use of writing something without any feedback or motivation?**

**Jus sayin'**

**Luv ya'll,**

**-N**


	13. Trust Is Finally Gained

**Chapter 13**

**A/N: THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOU PEOPLE ARE BACK!**

**And I am not abandoning this story, thanks to ya'll! **

**My latest reviewers, Icefire 27 and That Dorky blonde…THANK YOU!**

**Piggythelaw! You're back! : D : D : D**

**Ok ok I am shutting up now, but THANK YOU ALL again!**

…**..**

Scarlet now lay on the bed, still weak, but a certain enthusiastic speedster kept her company, and it was hard to get bored in his presence.

"There is a really beautiful, moonlit café, just down the road." Now his new proposal began. For the last fifteen minutes, Wally had been trying to shake a date out of Scarlet, he didn't get to hit on her during the first days of her arrival, as she always kept herself so distanced and alone type.

But now she just lay on the bed, slightly elevated with a pillow and giggling randomly at Wally's desperation, a glass of juice in her pale hands. But for every place he had suggested, she had as politely as possible, turned down the offer and said he was charming, but only someone like Artemis would like him.

That was actually an attempt from Scarlet to get those two up and moving, she had certainly seen the attraction between them, but it ended up in Wally glaring at her menacingly, which was not a good look on a speedster and saying he was not interested, before pouting and walking away. So Wally's look after time with Scarlet was presumably over.

That left Scarlet alone in the vast white room, the clock ticking boredly on the wall, not a window to look out of, which was so much like her old prison cell, she wanted to run away. But that was not an option, as she was literally trapped in that body cast thingy Canary had put on her. And now, she wondered what he was up to, probably eating or stuff. Maybe annoying Artemis a little.

Now her thoughts wandered off to her old life, and she cannot help feeling they were still hot on her trail. Them being the villains. She shuddered slightly remembering her experiences there. How she got beaten up for any crazy thing she did. She just wanted to help in the hero business after all anyways. That was not a crime, but in her 'mentors' eyes, it was a huge offence.

The Team kept reassuring her that they have probably given up on retrieving her, but she knew better than that. The Light members, were not some people who would give up so easily and though she never expressed her worries, she kept thinking, they had not given up, not yet. They had some severe stubbornness issues, all she could say. No one would oppose them, except the Justice League of course. She opposed them. Did that make her a hero?

Now she thought about her last mission, how she brought building down, heck, did she have to that? Now it was like she was trapped in her own body, she could not even get up on her own! She hated being confined to the bed, she was a person who could not stay still for long, she had to do something, that involves jumping around obviously.

She was most annoyingly, snapped out of her thoughts by the door slowly creaking open, a speck of grey wall was visible through the little space opened. She looked over her shoulder to the left and she easily saw a timid acrobat, lean and thin slowly approaching her bed, a calm, not unusual though, smirk on his face.

"Hey." Robin said smiling even more. He was wearing his casuals and was apparently tired, it seemed.

"Hey." She said, returning his smile. " So I am guessing you are in charge, for now?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Why so quiet, Boy Wonder?"

"I thought you were asleep."

"I see."

Then Robin just stood there, while Scarlet lay calmly in her bed. There was an utmost awkward silence between them both. Scarlet kept shifting slightly in bed every now and then, and Robin could tell she despised being so immobile at all times.

Scarlet had lost a lot of blood, and being in a body cast, for two hours straight and having nothing to do except hear Wally's vague blabbering had left her curiosity churning. So when Robin entered, she knew she had a chance to have a little fun at least. He seemed to be an understanding person. And that building had all its circuits were connected so busting the main power switch caused miniature explosions inside the building and messed up its construction, bringing it down. Robin had found that out just a few moments before visiting her.

"Why don't you tell anyone your real name?" A new question emanated from her.

This was the question Robin and been dreading to explain to the maiden of fire, and ultimately, disappointing her.

"Batman's rules." He said, avoiding her intense eyes, it was the simplest explanation he could come up with after all.

"Well, what were you doing before you ended up here?" She said changing the topic as the answer for her previous question was not satisfying. To her it was a big mystery.

"I was training." He said without a second thought, and when he looked at her, he saw her face getting red, out of anger at her state apparently. "Oh, I'm sorry, I know you want to get out of bed." He quickly apologized, cooling Scarlet's anger. If there was one thing that was true and noticeable about Scarlet, was that she had a short fuse.

"Whatever." She said impatiently. " You know, all this body cast is completely useless. I can do with a few plasters here and there." She suddenly piped up, after a lot of thinking.

"Huh?" Robin said, completely clueless.

"Oh, come on! Can you tell Canary to put on a few casts around instead of…you know, my whole body, it's totally suffocating. " She explained. She had this really hopeful glint in her eye, that Robin could not help noticing. Damn her and her emotional blackmailing!

"Uh, maybe that's not a good idea.." He began, but it seemed like Scarlet had acquired a persistent nature from staying around the villains so often.

" Please?" Scarlet said, looking at him with that look on her face, she was giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

"Oh, ok fine." Robin gave in to her innocent stare.

"Yes!" she cheered, but kept herself down, she had learnt her lesson to not jerk her limbs around, from the last time she had jumped up.

…..

So that's how Robin got stuck with Black Canary, who was now looking at him, as though he were telling her a woven up story.

"Maybe I should go ask her myself." Canary said, eyeing Robin. "Well, you can if you want to, she told that to me herself." Robin defended himself.

"Scarlet, you need your wounds to heal, you can't keep on a few casts." Canary said, barging into the room, and saying everything straight to her face. "Unless, you have a high pain tolerance level." Canary added seeing her face drop.

"Really?!" Scarlet was so happy, and acting as though she could bear all the pain going to be subjected to her.

Robin looked at her, his mouth hanging open, wondering if she could really handle it. He opened his mouth to say something, but Scarlet saw that and did not give him a moment to speak.

"I'll try! But let me get out of bed, please!" She pleaded.

Canary was amazed at how desperate she was, and considering her past life, she decided to go with her plans for a change.

Canary believed in this girl, and after the latest building crash incident, most of the members of the league trusted her as well. She would rather give up her life for the sake of doing what was right, and this impressed even the darkest hearts, someone like Batman.

Batman had heard of that incident, it was all around the Watchtower. And he had received Robin's messages, so he decided to visit the team.

The computer installed in the Zeta tubes announced the Dark Knights arrival and the sound echoed out through the cave, bringing all the youths to attention, as they gathered in the hall.

But instead of paying any attention to them, Batman just waved them off, dispersing them. And almost everyone was expecting a good dose of reprimanding, so they all were stunned when he made a beeline to the infirmary, where Canary was working on Scarlet's bandages.

He entered the room, his dark figure standing out from the white surroundings.

"Hello, Phoenix." Hs loud voice boomed, and Scarlet looked up, fear clear in her eyes. She was expecting this moment to come, she knew she could not avoid this scolding.

But instead Batman said something completely unpredictable.

"I wanted to congratulate you on a job well done." He said, much to the surprise of the young heroine.

"But, you were supposed to be mad at me, I mean I brought down a building on myself, and well, the villains got away." She said, this time with resounding naivety.

"You have a remarkable sense of sacrifice," Batman said, and Canary could have sworn she saw the corners of his lips turn up for a few seconds, but no one else saw that.

"I am honored to tell you, you are officially accepted on the team." He said still in his monotone voice, but Scarlet was not the one to keep quiet when good news was presented to her.

She jumped up, ignoring all the pain, she had experienced enough over the years, and now the broken fragments of her bones were just a little prickle to her. she cheered, surprising the blonde lady who was doing up a bandage on her arm, and now for a question…

"Do I get to know Robin's secret identity now?" She asked, but all her hopes and expectations were soon to be crushed.

"No."

And Batman stalked out of the Cave, as the rest of the Team butted into the infirmary to congratulate her on her ultimate success.

"Thanks to you guys, I'm alive right now. If it was anyone else, I am so sure, they would have abandoned me." She said slowly, only to be bear hugged by the bubbly Martian.

"Don't say that!" She scolded in a motherly fashion as everyone chuckled. "We are glad to have you on our team, it's going to be so much more fun with you around!" M'gann squealed.

And everyone just shook her hands and told her about their happiness and all, making Phoenix feel super important, she had been disregarded at the Light HQ a lot, and this special treatment was very new to her.

"Thanks guys." She said looking gratefully at them all. She was truly happy in this place.

….

"You may be happy, young lady, but you should know, you should'nt be."

A deep voice echoed, rhyming the words.

"We are coming for you, let whatever happens be."

….

**A/N: Don't kill me for the cliffie.**

**And don't forget to review!**

**Thanks in advance! Bubye…**

**-N**


	14. Sunsets

**A/N: Thanks for the responses I'm finally getting! Continue just like that guys!**

**Maybe I did not mention this before, but plz don't mind my typos, grammatical mistakes, and any undeliberate stupidness in my story. **

**I wuv' ya'll…UPDATE!**

…**.**

Scarlet was injured to an extent of going around in a wheelchair, in the exact same one she was introduced to by the members last time. She had to stay in it, but she did not let anyone push her around, except once or twice maybe.

Right now, she was leisurely strolling the halls, with nothing specific to do, not like she did not enjoy finding out more about her new home, she loved it at the Cave. As much as M'gann wanted her to wear the clothes she had brought for Scarlet, she still preferred to stay in her uniform, which was flexible and stable. She was just weaving her wheelchair in and out the corridors, until, she reached an elevator.

"Hmm, must lead to the terrace, or top floors or something…" She said thoughtfully. Scarlet reached out a bony finger and pressed the button, which was glowing red.

It was not long before the elevator doors slid open, reflecting her image on the mirror at the back of the lift. She entered a little hesitantly, and pressed yet another button, leading to the highest floor. She was headed to the terrace.

The elevator began its ascend up the shaft, making it feel like her insides were going down. It was not long before the lift screeched to a somewhat gentle stop, and the doors slid open, revealing the long corridor. Scarlet could not help wondering how many levels did this seemingly small base had, but nonetheless, her hands made it to the wheels of the chair, and she wheeled herself out with careful expertise.

Scarlet had nowhere safe to ponder about her thoughts, which were in a complete mess since the last few weeks, and now she thought that the terrace might be a place where the Martian could not sense her thoughts. She began her search for the terrace, but her little hunt ended up by finding the door alright, but it was a staircase high.

As the mischievous little rule breaking brat she was, she could not help but feel the need to go up there, and just get the privacy she desired. It had been a week and a half since the explosion, and her injuries were doing well. Most of the major fractures had disappeared, and there was not a single burn on her body, thanks to her infernal abilities. These miraculous healings had greatly surprised Canary. But she still wanted to take precautions and she put Scarlet in a wheelchair, which was not really needed, according to her.

Scarlet sighed, whipped her head around to check for approaching spies, and lifted a foot out of the chair, which now had the brakes on. Then she managed to wrench her other leg out, and she set them down firmly on the ground. She knew Canary would kill her for this, but she had to get to the terrace. It had been a long time since she had been able to see the world, and breath in fresh air, than roaming around like a hopeless lass in the Cave.

She pushed up with her hands on the armrests, and finally she stood on her feet. She wobbled a little, since she had not walked for quite a time, and had completely relied on the wheelchair. She winced slightly, but took a few steps anyways, and she made it to the stairs, finally getting the hold of walking while not being able to feel half her body.

She grabbed the rails and pulled herself up inch by inch, and finally the expanse of stairs, which was taunting her a few minutes ago, now lay at her feet, she smiled in triumph and turned and pushed the handle of the door. It smoothly opened, without any noise, and she stepped outside. The first thing she did was inhale a deep breath of fresh air, as she let it out along with a whoop of joy.

She let go of the walls she was clutching for support and walked as though a building had not fallen clean on top of her. she limped and let out a gasp every now and then but safely made it to the edge of the terrace, leaning on the bars covering the perimeter of the ragged top of Mount Justice.

The sun was setting, sending a beautiful orange glow over everything, as though her surroundings were on fire. It made her feel like she had her own little world. The gentle glow of the evening sun sent swirls of pinks and reds racing through the sky, as the light breeze softly blew her ebony locks out of her eyes.

Scarlet had not enjoyed such freedom in a long time, longer than she could recall, and now suddenly in the presence of nature, the soft sound of waves lapping at the sandy shores as she looked down to the crystalline waters, gave her a sense of self conscious and somehow wiped all her worries away, as she just lost herself in the melodious notes of the birds going to bed.

"Decided to come up here alone, huh?" A new voice called in the background of the peaceful scene, abruptly throwing Scarlet out of her own thoughts, not appreciated. But the voice set her on her guard, as she whipped around, only to catch sight of the young acrobat who was appointed to watch over her a week and a half ago.

"How did you find me?" She asked clearly suspicious. She eyed him, the little flecks of red flowing around her dark irises in perfect symphony with the silent music of nature.

"Even I come here, whenever I want to think, or just want to have some alone time with no one but myself." He said smiling blindingly at the shorter girl.

"Oh, so you want think something over right now? I can leave if you-" She said picking herself off the rails and beginning to hobble toward the exit, but Robin caught her hand. "No, don't go." He said, cutting her off.

"Let's watch the sunset together." He offered.

"I had nothing to think actually, I saw your wheelchair near the stairs and I guess I just got curious." He said, looking out into oblivion.

"Robin, why does Batman keep secret identities?" She asked again. But this time, there was a faint glimmer of weak hope in her eyes.

"He says its for security purposes. If a villain knows our names, it will be more easy to attack at our homes, you know…" He said, hoping desperately his answer was satisfactory.

They both then stayed there, just looking out, having nothing to say, but the language of their eyes told each other they enjoyed the company.

"Robin, um…uh, you know." Scarlet suddenly began most mysteriously. "It won't hurt to let my hand go." Robin did not even relies they had been intertwining their fingers slowly together , and when realization hit him, he let go and began stuttering most incredulously sounding like a typical idiot.

"I'm sorry!" he finally managed to say.

Another silence prevailed them, and now, the sky was going dark, and stars were making their glorious appearances.

"Scarlet, will you tell me why you came up here?" Robin inquired carefully, after the silence had begun to bore him.

"Actually, I think it was me who wanted to think matters through." She began "You see, so many things have happened and I never got the chance to just sit down and think, where I was involved and whether my doings were right or wrong."

"Well, I'd say, most of them were right." He said in an attempt to encourage her.

"Robin, I really want to know your real name." Her new demand began.

"See, even I want to tell you." He said sadly, and both of them knew Batman was the barrier between them and their secrets.

A thoughtful look dawned upon his face, as he fell into deep thinking, which was totally disregarded by Scarlet.

"Scar!" he suddenly yipped, using her nickname. "I could tell you, but we will keep it a secret from Bats okay?" He said, or rather asked.

"You know, I am mostly about danger but you know Batsy well enough, he will find out somehow, and that would be the end of our living days." She replied, sadly.

"To heck with Batman's rules!" He suddenly screamed.

"My name is…." He began, as they slowly came closer.

"….Ri-"

"Dudes! New mission!" Wally suddenly popped out of nowhere, and suddenly a blur of yellow whizzed out the door and down the stairs just to thwack into the wheelchair kept at the bottom of the stairs.

Both the young vigilantes pulled away, blushing furiously.

"Maybe next time okay, Scarlet?"

"Sure."

The mission was nothing huge, just they had stop a few burglaries around town and get the thugs arrested. Then the team came back tired, and sweaty. They all went to their respective houses and did whatever they had to do, but Scarlet stayed back at the Cave with the Martian and the clone.

Will things ever change for the good?

…..

**A/N: This is shorter than I usually write, I am sorry people, but I am drowning in homework's at the moment.**

**I will try to upload often though the chappies might not be long. But I will tell you if I am going to be away for a while anyways.**

**So….yeah, Sorry.**

**Plz review?**

**-N**


	15. Nightmares

**A/N: Hmm….14 chapters, but only 10 reviews….**

**NOT COMPLAINING! (But still disappointed : / )**

**I am working hard on this story you know…**

**I changed my Pen name to 'The Legendary Dragon Tamer' for everyone's information!**

**Anyways, thanks to all those who bothered to review and make one lonely soul happy!**

**Ninedragonflies : Thanks! Yes, even I loved your story! I'll keep reviewing! : D**

**That Dorky blonde: Ha-ha..pretty much yes! ;)**

**Taenaeia: Thanks! : )**

**Birdlover: Thanku! : )**

…**..**

It was around two in the afternoon, and most of the members were not at the cave. Namely, Artemis, Wally and Robin. The current three residents of the Cave were doing their normal activities.

M'gann was reading a levitating cook book, while she slowly stirred a god-knows-what batter, and Superboy was sitting upright on the couch, his eyes trained on the giant static television, his mouth hanging open, as he was mysteriously mesmerized by it.

Scarlet had locked herself away in the room, reading a novel, her nose buried in the bundle of pages, as she lost herself in the story. But she was not really reading, just pretending to, in case someone barged into her privacy, she would have a good reason to why she was alone in the room, than doing nothing.

Her mind wandered off to the previous day, as she recalled the pleasant memories of her and Robin's solitary time under the sky alone on the rooftops of the scraggly mountain, and she could not help but snort a little when she remembered that Robin had nearly told her his secret identity, the sun was setting beautifully, and if she remembered clearly, they almost, well, kissed, until they were rudely interrupted by the naughty speedster. He had told her he will reveal the troubling secret afterwards, but that time was apparently not here yet.

She flipped the pages absent mindedly, her eyes skimming over the pages of the book, as she tried to decipher the meaning of the story, but memories from the last mission were too distracting. She remembered Batman not looking at her distrustfully like before, instead he told them about the endless amount of burglaries in Gotham, and he wanted them to go solve the problems by themselves for a change.

She remembered how Robin was being overprotective, she also recalled how with only a few rounds of flips, she was not able to concentrate and was feeling incredibly weak, and after she had launched two sloppy moves at one of the thugs, Robin had shooed her away to the rooftops, where she would be safe. Even though his precautions and warnings, she kept firing at the thieves occasionally, and it was not long before she had successfully scared them away. She smirked at the satisfying memory, how Robin was being oblivious to the fact that she had contributed in stopping most of the thefts, from the rooftops.

She had also noticed Batman had not given them a big task to do, guess he had learned his lesson to avoid important missions where they could easily mess up the hard way.

Anyways, they had stopped measly thefts at several jewelry shops and one at the bank, and other at the electronics store. She could not help wondering what was with villains and power. She had been brought up in villain custody, but she was never interested in theft, money, importance or power.

But her seniors were totally the opposite, they would take several lives, and mercilessly destroy residential areas just for the sake of importance. But she would instead mess up their schemes. She remembered blasting the weapons and burning away the blueprints for one of their plans. They were not happy. She got thrown into the white, inanimate room and was kept there for days, at least she thought so, it was not long before she lost track of time. She was starved and weak, by the time she was allowed to come out.

When Scarlet realized where her thoughts were directed towards, she shook her head, springing up in her bed.

"Aw man." She said out loud, yet softly so no one except she heard it, unhappy at her inability to control her thinking towards the positive route, it was almost as though something else maybe telling her what to think…

She opened her door and slipped out, and walked away from her room, toward the open kitchen, where M'gann's first recipe was coming out the oven unburnt, and Superboy completely neglected her success and M'gann was hopefully looking for a reaction.

The sweet smell of chocolate chip cookies overwhelmed her sense of smell. She walked over to the Martian, who was busy doing her happy dance at her first ever successful recipe. When M'gann caught sight of Scarlet, she rushed over, her tray of cookies floating and bobbing gracefully in the air. The smile on the innocent alien could have lit up the whole cave, if it was not for Superboy who kept looking over his shoulder at the girls skeptically.

"Scar!" She squealed blatantly. "They finally turned out not burnt!" She announced victoriously, before thrusting one in Scarlet's hand, who looked at the cookie in her hand and the cookie was almost begging her to eat it, and her mouth began to water.

She bit into the brown hemisphere, and the little pieces of chocolate melted in her mouth, while the biscuit was crushed. A heavenly, yet a little nauseous feeling came over her as she bit into a proper cookie for the first time in many years.

"Mmm!" she exclaimed much to Martians mirth. "Just like the ones at the bakery!" She said.

"Really?" M'gann reverberated, flying off to Superboy and handing him a cookie, as he finally showed some happiness as Scarlet watched them hug. She could not help finding the scene cute, she smiled and was beginning to walk away, when a thought resounded in her head.

_You can't stop them from finding out._

For the second time that day, she shook her head and decided to conceal herself away in her room again.

Just before she left, the computer announced Robin's arrival. But she did not stop to greet him or at least smile at him for once. She had a suspicion he would pop the question about his identity, but strangely, she could not feel herself care.

She quietly crept up to her room, sticking her finger after removing her glove into the finger scan machine, it beeped and said "Accepted" in a cold mechanical voice, as it let her in. She dropped down in her covers , and curled up in bed, feeling miserable, as negative thoughts clouded her mind.

_Should she tell them?_

_Will they find out?_

_Is it wrong to keep secrets from new found friends?_

_Will they abandon her if she told the truth?_

The unanswered questions lay deep in her mind, occasionally resurfacing, but she soon felt tiredness overcome her and she fought against sleep for quite a while, but eventually gave in to the tempting sweetness of slumber. While she rested, after the previous days tedious tasks, she had a dream, more precisely described as a nightmare, and in a few words, it was not pleasant, and plain disturbing.

_She was in a dark surrounding, completely opposite of the lonely white, nearly glowing walls of the infirmary she was trapped in a few days ago. But this place was lonely, frightening and it brought up sensitive matters in her mind, some things she had buried away deep into the recesses of her brain._

_Suddenly, out of nowhere, a thick green fog enveloped her, and she fell to the ground, coughing badly. She tried to hold her breath, but the gas somehow reached her mind, and in a matter of seconds, she was knocked out._

_She was expecting to wake up all bloody and tied up, but instead she awoke completely unbound and she looked around in confusion. It seemed like she was still in the same place and yet she felt scared. She realized she was shivering, all around her seemed to be an endless oblivion, as she twirled around in discomposed circles, desperately searching for a way out to freedom. _

_With another turn she noticed a light out into the distance, and she gasped and vaguely recognized the outline as it slowly inched closer to her. the name was on the tip of her tongue, but she could not place her finger on it._

_Slade…_

_But she did not completely know that._

"_Look, look, who's here." His menacing voice called out, which seemed to be emitted by the figure which felt like it was all around her now. "Who are you?" She asked, creeped out by the cold wind that whistled down her back._

"_I am someone you already know, Dear" the voice spat out the word 'Dear' like it was poison. Then the figure which was beginning to look more like a man now began circling the shaken girl._

"_Try to remember me." He urged._

"_I don't know you!" She screamed back._

"_You don't?"_

"_I don't!"_

"_Give in so easily?" _

"_Y-yes."_

_He was standing right behind her now, as he bent down to reach her ear and he whispered, "I am your worst nightmare…" _

_Her eyes went wide._

" _Wh- who?" She gathered her guts to ask the question._

"_Why, your grandfather!"_

_Her already wide eyes opened further to look like large saucers._

_She did not know anything about her family in ages, now a crazy old man claiming to be her Grandpa made less sense to her._

"_Am I supposed to believe that?"_

"_You'd better."_

_He suddenly swirled his hands around, somewhat like she would feel and redirect heat radiations but instead, it made her feel dizzy and wobbly._

_Suddenly, she could feel a vision swimming directionlessly in her head. It slowly came into view, as she recognized Gotham city, she had been there not too long ago._

_But then she caught sight of another cloaked figure, standing proudly on top of a building, the long cape behind her resembled a small curtain. She gasped, as she recognized herself. But it was difficult to believe it was her by the way she was smirking so cruelly, almost evilly._

_Fire raged around her, and she made no effort to put it out. She watched in utter horror as she sprayed more fire around, and the buildings which were not on flames now had orange and blue tongues of fire licking the air._

"_This could be you future…" Slade murmured._

"_I don't want it to be." She said pathetically._

_She all of a sudden saw the Team charging towards her, showing no mercy, and no hope in their eyes. Then she had to watch mutely, as she wiped out the mass of heroes effortlessly, with just a few swipes of fire with her hands. Now only he red clad lad was left standing._

_She saw herself smirk demonically, as she sent another wave of red and blue towards the young vigilante…_

_Scarlet screamed and buried her head in her hands, as she heard Robin's shout of pain echo in her conscience. She did not even want to imagine what must be happening in the vision._

"_This is a villain!" Slade now screamed at her, taking hold of a fistful of her hair, and jerking her up._

"_And you will become one…" He left his sentence incomplete, as she whipped out a knife and thrust it in Scarlet's chest._

"…_Or die." He completed his little speech as the young girl lay lifeless at his feet._

"Scarlet!" She heard a voice call out.

"Scar, wake up!" It was robin! And now Scarlet shot up in bed, shivering and stuttering, as she realized the tears streaming freely down her cheeks. She was drenched in cold sweat, that made her hair stick clammily to her neck.

She felt herself being enveloped in warmth, as another realization hit her that she was being gently hugged by Robin. She let go of her emotions, and placed her head on his shoulder as she hugged himtighter.

"I-it was h-h-horrible." She stumbled through her words.

"Its' okay Scarlet, it was only a dream." He tried to comfort her.

"A nightmare. " She corrected him, pulling away, as she composed herself.

"How did you get into my room?" She asked.

"We had to break it down, you were bawling your head off!" Robin declared, as he kept a firm hold on her hand.

"I'll be okay, it is not the first time I had a nightmare." She said, as everyone said soothing words to her before they all left, the last person, who was robin, shut the door behind him, as he sighed outside her room.

It was not long, before he had to leave as Batman was here, and impatiently waiting for him in the Bat mobile.

…

That night, as Dick, no longer Robin for the night lay in his bed, the thought of Rosanna crept like a silent mouse through his mind for the first time on four years.

**A/N: There you go..(Huff puff)**

**And extra long chapter to make up for the crappy last one.**

**Hope you liked it!**

**Plz Follow, Favorite, Review, and all that stuff, even a mixture will do… : D**

**-N**


	16. Dissapointments And Realizations

**A/N: OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!**

**Thank you so much cutietoothless2 and piggythelaw!**

**You both reviewed on all my chapters! I officially dedicate this chapter to you both!**

**Thanks to you all, MAJOR THANKS TO YOU ALL, I have 36 reviews now! I respect you all so much!**

**OMG! I cannot believe this story has reached a 10087 views! AHHHHH!**

**Thanks you so much!**

**Think I need to stop talking. Or I will never stop my thanking..lol.**

…**.**

Ever since Scarlet had her nightmare, Robin could not help thinking how much her temper tantrum reminded him of his long lost childhood friend. Now every time he was reminded of the incident, memories flooded over him painfully. He had not an easy childhood, it was tragic and psychologically disturbing.

Last night, the thought of the happy old times with his family had crossed Dick's mind, and he could not help wondering if Rosanna was still at the orphanage. He told Bruce about it. At first, Bruce was completely clueless about what Dick was talking so continuously about.

But after a few reminding of the incidents, and his sincere promise of bringing Dick to meet Rosanna one day, soon rang a bell, and Bruce had an intensely thoughtful look on his face, while Dick, in his civilian attire rambled on and on about all the happenings, in hopes that something would click into place in Bruce's mind, sooner or later.

But it already had. Bruce took hold of Dick's hand and said , " I remember now, Richard." Of course that sent Dick into happy mode, as he began grinning his infamous smile, and said, a little timidly this time, " Will we go to the orphanage to meet her any day?"

"Not any day, Dick."

That confused the young boy, who was standing in front of the older man with a hopeful expression gracing his features even more. He got the wrong meaning of it all, and his brows drooped, as he asked, "You mean….?"

Bruce felt very guilty forgetting his promise, and having it reminded by his ward like that. He had good news awaiting. After all, a Bat is full of surprises…

"Not any day." Bruce repeated. " How about today?"

Dick smiled even more, if that was possible, as he suddenly jumped up and out the door, dragging a very repulsive and sliding Bruce behind him.

They both got into the car, slamming the door shut as Dick waved goodbye to the old butler standing at the door with a hilarious confused look upon his face , at their sudden departure to the unspecified location.

The dynamic duo finally settled into the car, as Bruce strapped his belts on. This ride was going to be interesting, he predicted.

"Let's go, then!" Bruce said, mouthing the word 'Orphanage' to Alfred, as he nodded in understanding, waving back to Dick, who was literally, jumping around the car, reminding Bruce of the first few days with the young bird.

Then Bruce had to suffer listening to Dick's long childish monologues, all about his childhood, as they sped down the smooth road, guided by the light from the glowing moon. Bruce could not help cringing at many parts throughout the speech Dick was presenting him with. It was not long, Before they reached the place of the orphanage, Dick's smile could have outsmarted the Joker's.

It had been barely two minutes since the vehicle had stopped in front of the run down, battered building, and the happy acrobat sprung out of the car, as though there were uncomfortable spikes on his chair. He made a clear beeline to the entrance, leaving Bruce behind, who was admiring his enthusiasm.

Dick dashed right into the ancient looking structure, as he galloped up the lonely stairs. He had thought this place would be rumbling with activity, but it was most absurdly quiet. You could hear the old grandfather clock at the empty reception ticking. The place was so lifeless, that Dick now expected that they had turned up at the wrong building, it was not supposed to be so lonely, you could hear your echo reverberate from the walls. This place would normally be crawling with endless amounts of orphaned children, but now, you can't even hear a cricket chirp.

Even all the furniture seemed to have disappeared, the cash counters, and papers and pens, that would have littered the tables of the poorly maintained orphanage was also missing. But Dick was not one to give up hope so easily. Even if the place looked like the residence of some abandoned ghouls, he made his way higher up the stairs, Bruce on his tail, he reached the area where the children would have their rooms set up. There too they were met with eerie quietness. Dick looked around, hoping to find another living being he could wrestle answers out from.

He was just beginning to give up the strong hope he had maintained, before they heard the gentle scraping of something that sounded like a broom on the floor. But it all seemed far away. He just stood at Bruce's side, waiting for whatever that was to approach them rather than they coming to it. Slowly, out of the shadows, an old man, wearing the compulsory orange uniform with an identification tag of the cleaning maintenance, that were often seen on the road stumbled out from behind the grey walls, with a broomstick in his hands.

The wrinkles on his old face intensified, as he scrutinized the pair standing in the hallway. He walked up to them, with a limp in his step, as he awkwardly shook hands with the billionaire.

"What are ye' young lad here for?" He asked in a heavy accent, that was not quite identifiable. That question was directed towards Dick, and Bruce protectively came to his defense.

"I'm sorry, but we were searching for the manager of this orphanage." Bruce said politely, unlike the old man. Dick carefully made his way behind Bruce and decided to stay hidden there.

"Manager o' this place?" He asked raising his brows, as he continued sweeping the thick layer of dust formed on the floor away. He suddenly decided to keep quiet, the suspense in the air was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.

He abruptly sighed, and straightened up, his old back making a crunching noise, as he lay his worn out broomstick, which was probably as old as himself on the cracked walls, and said something none of the two other people in the building wished to hear.

"They shut down this place years ago, some electrical failures y'know. Busted this place is." He said, rolling his shoulders.

Dick felt something within him snap.

"Where did all the children from this place go?"Bruce was hoping they were in a new location where Dick could visit Rosanna.

"Aye, they were let out on the streets." The cleaner said, smirking. He sure had a lot of guts for a frail old man. He did not look up, but instead turned on his heel and stalked out of the door like the sour old man he was.

Dick felt like he was slapped on the face with a steel pipe. He looked at Bruce with pleading blue eyes." I'm sorry, Dick." Bruce apologized, sounding like a balloon which had all the air let out of it.

"I was hoping to see her so much." Dick said, suddenly wrapping his arms around Bruce. Bruce noticed Dick's voice was shaking, and he felt like the old ad days had come back, when he had to console the young boy every night from reoccurring dreams that plagued him for days together.

"Let's go home." Bruce said, leading Dick out of the dingy building and into his limousine, as they drove back to the Wayne Manor. Dick fell asleep halfway, and Bruce could not help feeling pity for him. The last memory of his childhood had been parting with Rosanna, and meeting her again would have been his dream. But fate always turned out cruel to him, and yet again his hopes were crushed. Bruce wondered if separating them, was one of the biggest mistakes he ever committed.

When they reached home, Alfred greeted Bruce warmly, and seeing the tear tracks on Dick's sleeping face, shot a questioning glance to Bruce who was returning from hanging his coat on the ornate cupboard.

Bruce sighed, before asking Alfred to wait as he transported the slumbering body of his foster son upstairs and tucked him into the covers, switching off the numerous lights. He looked at Dick sleeping, before closing the doors behind him and running down the stairs. He knew Alfred was a patient man, but he could only take so much. He reached the kitchen and explained the whole ordeal to the waiting old man.

While the pair were talking, Dick's eyes shot open, he was pretending to be asleep all along. When he was sure that no one was spying on him, he ejected himself off the warm bed, and whipped his costume out from the cupboard. He put it on, before securing his mask in place, becoming Robin once more.

He jumped out of his window, landing nimbly on grass in front of the mansion, his cape fluttering behind him. He ran around the house, to the garage and mounted his red R cycle, before speeding away to the nearest zeta tube which was the broken telephone booth, which no one knew was the way to the bases of their best Anti Villain League.

His molecules were transported away to the Cave, as he slowly crept through the cave quietly, approaching one of the many guest rooms, he had decided to sleep there for the night, because he knew he was going to have nightmares which he had finally managed to outgrow of. He did not really mind them , but he knew that Bruce and Alfred would pamper him like he was a baby and that always made him feel vulnerable.

He was walking through the corridor, when he passed the door of the pyrokinetic, he stopped there. There were sniffling noises coming from behind the door. That was awkward, she was supposed to be asleep. But it sounded like she was crying.

Robin looked at the fingerprint scanner machine installed on her door. He sighed, and decided to grant her the privacy she needed. And besides that, he did not know how to hack into those machines yet.

He walked away to the room he had chosen, but he could not sleep, he kept thinking, why was Scarlet crying? He suddenly shot up in bed, and opened up his laptop. He quickly did a research on how to hack into fingerprint scanners, and it was not long, before he had all the necessary information downloaded into his hologram computer embedded in his glove.

He then made his way to the young girls room, and he revised the points, before working on opening the annoying lock. He connected the wires to the door's system, and downloaded and uploaded stuff that only a computer engineer could understand, before the door suddenly announced "Accepted."

Robin let out a quiet whoop, before gently pushing the door open, to reveal the soft figure of Scarlet asleep on the bed. He crept up to her dwelling, before gently lifting the covers off her face. The sight he was met with was indescribable.

Scarlet lay like the most beautiful sleeping princess ever written about in fairytales. The soft moonlight accented her sharp features, making them appear softer, more delicate. There were marks of tears on her face, it was evident she had been crying her heart out. Her hair, shorter than before, was splayed out on the pillow, her lashes resting on her flawless cheeks.

When Robin realized he was staring, he quickly looked away, he was blushing hard and he was able to feel the blood rushing to his face. He caught sight of her hands, it seemed like she was clutching something.

He gently, carefully untangled her from her own sheets and saw a folded paper she was holding so tight, as though her life depended upon it. He gasped as he saw the worn out object held to her chest with the little piece of paper.

It was his elephant plushie!

He reached out and grabbed the paper, yet careful to not wake her up. He quickly unfolded it, and yes…There was the picture of the circus family, with _Rosanna's _parents, and the Grayson family. Robin's hands began shaking as he realized who was the beauty lying asleep in front of him.

He suddenly realized she was not Scarlet…

…

**A/N: Ha! Guessed who is it yet?!**

**Getting interesting!**

**THANKS AGAIN TO ALL MY REVIEWERS. **

**-N**


	17. Revelations

**A/N: THANKS TO EVERYBODY WHO FEEDBACKED FOR THE STUPID AUTHORS NOTE LAST TIME!**

**Yeah…Sorry about that drama. I hope I did not give anyone heart attacks. I am a person who gets hurt easily…! SORRY AGAIN!**

**Now I realize that I was just being an idiot!**

**OMG! I was literally drowning in the amount of responses I got! Now I know, I HAVE to continue this story, just to make all the lovely angels, who made me**_** so**_** happy that I was jumping around so hard, I wrecked my whole room, happy! You guys, are so awesome, it's difficult to put ya'll down! So here's CHAPTER 17 of the story I did not discontinue due to all the fantabulous people outta there!**

**Here is…..A FLUFF FILLED CHAPTER!**

**Sorry that was so long!**

…**.**

It was the next day, after Robin's little, yet imperious realization. But he had decided to not believe anything too quickly, without obtaining real evidences. Not like Peanut, his beloved elephant and that family photograph was not enough evidence… But it all seemed too good to be true.

Robin had not told anyone, and he was smiling so much since yesterday, that everyone was giving him weird looks. He could not help replaying the previous night in his head again and again. The sight of _Scarlet_ asleep, so still and unmoving, the tear tracks on her cheeks making her seem so much younger, as her fair hands grasping the old, charred piece of paper and the soiled toy so carefully, even in her sleep. Every time, it felt like it was a dream come true.

Ever since that nosy man at the abandoned orphanage had told him that the place had been closed down and the children were let free, his hopes were crushed that he would never see Rosanna again. His past and childhood haunted him in a way he dreaded, but now, there was this girl, right here in the Cave who could possibly be her. But Robin still could not be sure so easily. That's why he was going to confront her.

"Robin, B-O-1" The zeta tube announced Robin's arrival. Robin walked in onto the Cave's gleaming linoleum floor, his shoes thudding slightly, yet he managed to be quiet. His eyes scanned the room for his potential childhood friend, but instead he just saw everyone doing their regular activities.

M'gann's cooking had gotten way better, and now everyone craved her treats. Artemis and Wally were all over the place, fighting over some random, but surely stupid topic. But the static screen never failed to impress the thick headed clone after all. But after all these observations, Robin still could not find the one person he was searching for.

He sighed. Why did this girl have to be so self centered and anti social? Did he really have to turn the cave inside out searching for her? He had to admit, she would make a fabulous addition to the Bat Family after all. The thought made him smile, but his desperate search for the young rebellious lady, soon wiped that smirk off.

Robin walked over to Wally and Artemis on the couch, and maintaining his distance, so he does not get crushed and maimed in their furious fight, plopped down, and began to make himself comfortable. The cries of 'Baywatch!' and 'Arty!' made the situation known to the Boy Wonder, who snickered realizing they were fighting over their nicknames.

Superboy, who was sitting quiet and rigid in his seat ignored the bickering teens for a while, but it was not long before he let out a humongous sigh, and got off the couch, to accompany a very triumphant M'gann in the kitchen. Robin immediately lunged for the remote, but he still felt sorry for Conner.

Meanwhile, Scarlet was sitting in her room, doing nothing. Every time she was in her room, all alone, there was nothing to do, so she just thought about the recent events and occasions. This activity was boring, but she did not like mixing in with the other heroes. She just felt out of place amidst them. But this place was just too boring and cheerless to her liking. So she got up and made her way down the corridor, where everyone else was enjoying themselves.

She caught sight of Robin, who was slightly leaning away from the two people with murderous intentions, and her eyes lit up. He was the only person who always agreed to train with her, and she liked that about him. His willingness to spend time with someone he did not even know completely. Scarlet bounded up to him, stealthily, and decided to make her presence known.

"Boo!" She whispered in Robin's ear, and made him jump. He literally sprang out of his comfy seat, his eyes wide behind his mask, and when he saw Scarlet laughing her head off, his lower lip puffed out in a pout, his brows making their way up his forehead.

"Dude!" He complained, "Not fair!" Robin whined, crossing his arms across his chest. "Really? How?" Scarlet asked in between peals of laughter at Robin's expense. Robin opened his mouth to reply, but he suddenly remembered his past intentions, as he snapped his memory string back into place. But he also decided to take it slow, he did not want to raise unwanted suspicion.

He scrambled away behind the sofa, made his way to Scarlet, and asked her in a quiet tone, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Robin let his sentence trail off as he heard Wally wolf whistle behind him. He did not bother to turn around, instead added to his question.

"In private?"

He lifted his masked gaze to see Scarlet's surprised expression at his awkward and nonetheless, suspicious question, and also saw Wally guffawing behind his back and waggling his eyebrows crazily. He rolled his eyes guessing what he was thinking, but anyways dragged the reluctant girl away to the dark corridors.

He cornered her, determined to squeeze the answers out of her, but instead his covered eyes met her angry ones. He could tell she did not like him tugging her away from her idle past time for something she would surely regard unimportant.

"What are you doing?" She asked him, glaring full force making Robin flinch. That's when Robin realized that he had dragged her away without her approval. He mentally smacked his head, but decided to answer Scarlet's question anyways.

"I wanted to ask you something." He began. But he was just met with her rebellious attitude.

"It'd better be quick." She murmured , looking to the ground. She was brainstorming for any question that would identify her situation, but she could come up with none. If only she knew what Robin was going to say.

"I know who you are."

Those few words sent a frenzy of emotions racing through her. She broke out into a cold clammy sweat, and Robin could literally hear her gulp a few times, and feel the heat rising off her. He suddenly wondered if this all was a crazy misunderstanding, but he also wondered many other things, and he was not letting his questions go unanswered. But instead she replied in a low dangerous voice, "What. Do. You. Mean?" she gave a significant pause between each word to emphasize on her point, and that was enough to give Robin an attitude about the whole thing.

"I know," Robin said decisively, "I know you are not Scarlet." He tried to explain himself in a few words, and he was failing miserably, judging by the baffled look on her face, with her raised brows, and intense eyes wide. Robin sighed for the second time that day, and decided to show her the evidence instead of explaining himself.

He took her hand, and marched off to her room. He hacked into the door's systems again, much to Scarlet's annoyance and dismay. But he totally ignored the optical daggers Scarlet was shooting at him, as he pulled her into her own room, and gently pushed her down onto the clean covers of her bed. He locked the door, he wanted to be sure no one was eavesdropping on him.

"Robin!" Scarlet shrieked, "What is so important?!" Robin stayed unresponsive, instead giving her a stiff nod, and walking over to her bed. "Scarlet, do you remember your past now?" He had the hopes that since no one was rubbing her memory, everything must have come rushing back to her in the past few weeks.

Scarlet's back went rod straight, as the beads of perspiration collected at her hairline. In his determination, Robin had not realized the temperature of the room rise. But when he did, he also realized that Scarlet was going to blow her switch. He quickly scampered over to her, and sat down beside her. He put a reassuring hand on top of her steaming one.

"If it has, you can tell me." Scarlet knew she could tell him. He had not mentioned her mental breakdown to anyone even after he could have bragged that he was there for her when no one else was. But Scarlet was still apprehensive. Her memory _had_ returned, but it was all in bits and pieces. Everything was too blurry to make out anything clearly. But it still did bring back incidents, and those were the unpleasant ones.

She suddenly reached up a hand to quickly swipe a tear away, hoping Robin did not see her crying. But the way he was observing her was enough to tell him she was suffering another breakdown, a minor one. She would not just begin crying without a reason.

Robin was in a total fix, as to what should be done. Scarlet was slowly, but steadily tearing up more and more. Robin had a few crazy ideas in his head, but all of them were too absurd. Before he could do anything, Scarlet had launched herself at him in a death hug. Robin was taken by surprise, but feeling her small, and supposedly delicate frame press up against his body, soon told him he was being hugged and he did not hesitate to return it. They had hugged more than once before, so it was not a big deal when Scarlet threw her arms around him. At least Robin thought so.

"_Why_ do I know I can trust you?" She asked mostly to herself because that was a question which cannot be answered by Robin. She just as suddenly, broke herself away from him, feeling the blood from her face pool in her ears hotly. "You know you can." Robin replied with equal awkwardness.

"You…can keep secrets, right?" She asked most hesitantly. "Have I not been keeping enough already?" He asked her back with a smile. Scarlet was going to retort, but she felt that he had a point. She decided to open up to him, without worrying about ant criticism at all.

"My time at the Light HQ was worst!" She outburst, her voice raspy from crying. "I was treated like scum there, they did not give me any importance! They wiped my memory saying it gives more space to learn, but now I think everything is returning to me, but it is so… foggy. " She said in one gulp of air. "I remember having a friend, then getting separated, I-I remember running away, and also being taken captive with false promises of protection and … that's all, nothing else." She ended sadly.

Robin was taken aback at the sudden spew of words. She was speaking so fast that he was able to make out only the ending part, and he knew exactly what she was ranting about. Robin's breathing was rushed, he inwardly panicked, thinking it all maybe true. But he was enough scared of his Mentor, to tell his identity to anyone. But he so desperately wanted to know if it _was _Rosanna.

But the baffling part was, there were so less physical similarities between the two. He distinctly remembered Rosanna having melting gold eyes, the ones he loved gazing into. But Scarlet had intense black eyes, and it had strange qualities too. Like the way it glinted like polished metal every time the light hit it, the little flecks of red that swam directionlessly, gave her eyes an elegant touch.

Then there was their hair. Rosanna's was the lightest shade of chocolate brown. That image had burned itself into his mind. But Scarlet had hair black as night and dark as ebony, no resemblance to Rosanna. Also Scarlet had powers and was very quiet with others, while Rosanna made friends easily and was a normal citizen.

Robin got caught up in his thoughts, but when he felt Scarlet's questioning glare he decided to show her. "Scar, do you have any objects related to your past?" He asked. If she did not, then yesterday_ was_ a dream after all. But instead of disappointing him like that, Scarlet scampered away with the litheness of a squirrel to her simple cupboard, and rummaged around for a while before bringing up the two objects that Robin regarded as evidences. The toy and the piece of paper.

He ran over to her, and reached out a hand to touch the soft purple plush of the toy that once belonged to him. The fur had gone slightly rough, but those many years of storage could do that. The paper was burned, as though Scarlet had tried to rid herself of it, but could not find the nerve to. Robin opened the paper, and saw himself standing beside Rosanna in the picture, and he could not help the tears that sprang to his eyes.

"Robin, what- what happened?" Scarlet asked him, completely confused at his silence and the way he was staring at the picture.

Suddenly, it all clicked into place, it all made sense! Robin knew he had to tell her sooner than later. He looked up, and reached a hand to his mask sitting secure in its place on his face, and without a second's thought, he ripped it off, revealing his cerulean eyes, deep as the ocean, endless as the skies, as Scarlet gasped.

Robin lost all the care in the world for secret identities, and all he wanted was to be reunited with his long lost friend. He said in a clear ringing voice, laced with the slightest ribbon of hesitation,

"My name is Richard Grayson."

**A/N: Haha! Cliffhanger! **

**Howd'ya like this chap?!**

**Temme in the form of a review!**

**-N**


	18. Whelming' Reunions

**A/N: I am SO sorry for this late update. I usually post chapters every day, but now sadly it's every second day. I am sorry about the cliffhanger last chapter AS WELL . Please forgive me, I can't do anything for such lovely, considerate, awesome people. Except…**

**Cookies and waffles for you! (::) (::) # # … Lemon juice \:/ \:/ ! **

…

Robin just stood there, after speaking his heart out in only a few words, as Scarlet looked on with her mouth gaping open. He suddenly wondered if it was a mistake, as he kept his bare eyes trained on the ground. Scarlet was not saying anything, and he was slowly becoming more and more certain that this was a misunderstanding. He tried to not turn and hightail it back to the guest room he had slept in the previous night.

"No." Scarlet said quietly, not prepared to believe, she felt her conscience was tricking her. It could not be him, but it was. The impossible and unthinkable had happened. It was one in a million chances, but it did happen. It was crazy how fate found a way. Scarlet kept thinking these things, as the few words spoken sunk into the atmosphere. Scarlets eyes watered over, but she blinked the hot tears back. She was confused with what to even feel. Happiness, disbelief, anger, sadness...it all overwhelmed her.

Scarlet sighed, Robin could not make out the meaning behind that expression, so he thought keeping quiet was the best option. His mask was clenched tightly in his hand, the feeling of insecurity dawning over him. His mask gave him a feeling of well being. With it off, he just felt so…vulnerable. And with Scarlet not saying anything, the feeling simply intensified.

Scarlet suddenly jumped up as though there was a spring under her, she walked over to her little dresser with the chipped mirror. She needed to think clearly, asses all the things suddenly told to her. She raised her gaze to see herself and Robin…Richard, standing in the background. Her hands left scorch marks on the table top, as she leant forward, her hair swishing around her head like a thick curtain, obstructing her face from view. He had been with her all along!

A second reflection, Robin's reflection appeared beside her, as he uncertainly put a hand on her back, rubbing soothing circles. "Scarlet, what happened?" He asked in a squeaky tone, his pale complexion whitening even further. She just nodded her head no hard, before pulling herself up. The reflection of herself in the mirror looked back at her as though challenging her to do what she had purposefully avoided for so many years.

She sighed again. She knew she could not bury the real her deep inside and forget about it. She had to face it someday, and that someday was apparently here. She opened her eyes, her hands gripping the edge of the table, blackening it. She lifted up a hand,

She reached out two trembling fingers,

And pulled the contacts out of her eyes.

Now it was the Boy Wonders turn to gasp. His mouth fell open, his jaw would have made a clang sound if it reached the ground. The information that she had faked her enchanting eyes hurt. He strained his vision to notice her true eye color, but her eyes were closed. The contacts were sitting idly on her fingertips. She still was not ready. But she knew she had to.

Her lids snapped open, as she slowly, almost motionlessly turned around to give the impatient young man a full view of her melting amber eyes. Robin's own peepers went wide, as burning agitated gold, met calm reassuring blue. A thousand emotions whizzed through both of them. Robin could not think of anything to say. He tried, but instead he kept opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish, making Scarlet, _Rosanna_ giggle.

She smiled shyly at him, hesitantly advancing towards Robin. Truth hit Robin in the face hard, as he let go of hesitation and smiled back at her. They both moved forward until they were only a few inches away from each other. In one abrupt motion, Rose flung herself around Robin firmly for the second time, nearly choking him, but he did not mind. All he knew and cared about was that he had proved her to be who he thought she was.

_Rosanna Wilson._

Richard could not believe his fate. First it throws misfortunes at him, then suddenly drenches him with impossible happiness. The girl in his arms, was the one who he longed to meet, who had been ripped away from him, his only family, and who he will never let go of so easily. They were finally reunited. They both perfectly recognized each other.

As Rose hugged Dick, the familiar smell of coal and ashes made themselves known to him. The color returned to his face. He breathed them in, as he wondered how she got her supernatural abilities. There were a thousand questions about her that was bugging him. So now it was the time to ask questions.

Robin inadvertently stowed away from the unsuspecting girl, their arms still around each other, and looked her in the eye.

"Rosanna." He said softly.

"Dick." Rose replied suddenly recollecting her childhood.

As those memories came back, the others did as well. The moments and incidents swished around in her mind crazily, fogging her mind and filling her head up. They rushed around, giving her a slight headache that she would have disregarded, if only it did not intensify.

She reached two fingers to her temples and massaged there, closing her eyes groaning under her breath. Robin easily noticed it, and he put an arm round her shoulder. "Are you okay?" He asked in concern. She gave him a look as though saying that he was worrying unnecessarily. All it took was one look into those deep cerulean eyes, which told so many stories, and everything came slipping and sliding back.

"I-it's all returning…" Rose said, "And it is coming back fast, so my head is hurting a little bit." She ended. "It is all very clear this time."

Robin snickered at the faces she was making, but decided to get serious, as he pushed her down on the bed. "Lie down." He commanded, earning himself a glare.

"I don't need to be pampered." She replied, making Dick grin at her independence. She had changed so much. He guessed life could do that to you.

"You may not be a damsel, but you are in distress." Robin said in a sing-song voice, as he nearly dodged the tiny speck of harmless blue flame that flew past his head. He wheezed in annoyance, chuckling along with Rosanna who began laughing.

After their laughter had died down, Dick decided to put his mask on and Rosanna disguised herself as Scarlet again, in case anyone walked in on them. Then her question and answer session began. Robin looked at her narrowing his eyes, but asked her anyway.

"Do you remember everything now?"

"Yes."

Then he pumped a victorious fist in the air, before settling down and telling to begin from the beginning. He had a serious look on his face, his eyes were asking so many questions.

Her own eyes went wide, thinking she will have to face all her fears yet again. But Robin deserved to know. She had recollected everything, from the time Bruce took Dick away, till the time she entered the cave for the first time. Her eyes went wide in realization that Bruce was Batman.

She got up in bed, and sat with a sinister look on her face. "You see… after Bruce took you away from the orphanage, I had to stay there, right?" Robin slowly nodded his head.

"Then…."

XXXX

_Flashback:_

_The little girl still sat crying in her bed, long after the departure of her friend. She would have loved to go, but she had to say._

_The food there was horrible. Though the kind maid sometimes snagged the desserts from the bakery table for her, that did not mean she got enough to eat. The people there were sour and tough. They were relentless and wanted to extract the most out of their occupation._

_This meant that they even made the children there, regardless of age, work hard. The rules there were meant to be followed by all the children_

_They were hard and fast, it was not long before the young girl got tired of the forced labor there._

_One night, she decided to leave. _

_When the maid gave her more of that ice cream, she used the glass cup to cut her sheets into long, thick strips and tied bunches of them together. _

_Then in the dead of night she quickly packed her necessities along with Dick's gift and the album, and used her rope to lower her precious down, then she threw one end of her make believe rope down the small window in her torture cell, tying the other end to the rods of the curtains. With the help of that, she managed to climb out._

_But near the end of her descend, one of the ties in the ropes came undone and she fell with a thud. The security soon discovered the little girl running away in the cover of the night, a parcel under her hand, but her acrobatic skills helped her get away from the guards._

_She walked around the new city she had reached for a while, but soon, slumber began begging for her attention. So she crawled into a small dark alleyway, curled up and went to sleep._

_Flashback end._

_XXXX_

By the time she had finished, Robin's eyes were large as golf balls. He could not help admiring her courage and determination. Her cleverness to use her sheets as ropes and her glass as a knife. The left over pieces of cloth served as her suitcase.

"What happened when you woke up?" Robin asked, curiosity mounting. He saw her smirk, the corner of her lip turning up.

"Well…"

XXXX

_Flashback:_

_The sunlight poured into the tiny area she was squished in. It lit up her surroundings as a board came into view. _

"_Welcome To Star City."_

_So now the little lass was lost in a completely new, vast city, with no money, and no food and water._

_She wanted a better view of the city, so she searched for a high spot._

_She climbed up the fire escape of the nearest building, as she made her way to the rooftop. There was a tall streetlight nearby. It was switched off during the morning._

_Suddenly she had a naughty idea. She looked around the terrace to see if anyone was there. Finding no one, she looked down the tall building. Any normal human being would have been shivering in the corner with a case of acrophobia. The height was so up high. But not Rosanna…_

_She jumped._

_A crowd of people formed at the bottom of the building, all screaming ready to catch her. She saw their surprised faces and smirked. She was freefalling parallel to the streetlight. When she was about to hit the ground, she caught hold of the pole and slid down, landing in a graceful shoulder roll._

_Everyone heaved a sigh and clapped. They began handing her money, which confused her, but she soon understood and went around collecting money from them._

_Thus she made her living._

_Flashback end._

_XXXX_

"Whoa." Was all that came out of Robins mouth when he heard this piece of her history.

Rosanna doubled up laughing at his expression. But she was not even halfway through her story.

She gulped, remembering the part that took place to bring her to the place she had escaped from so long ago. "Won't you continue?" Robin asked in a small voice. She gave a short nod, trying to swallow her heart which had jumped into her throat, back down.

"Then one day, when I was performing…"

XXXX

_Flashback:_

_There was that young girl. She had become the centre of attention of Star City. The way she put her surroundings to use, jumping and flinging herself off the wires and rods, any graspable surface she could get her hands on, as the series of floating motions beautifully merged together to form an unforgettable performance._

_The crowd cheered her on. These days, she did not have any problem with her basic needs, but yet, she had to reside in that little corner sandwiched between two buildings. She did not have a place to stay, but she never complained. She was content._

_The cloud burst out in applause as she completed her made up sequence. As she went around with her piece of cloth collecting money, a 100 dollar note fluttered into the rag. _

_She was surprised. She looked up to see a queer man standing before her, grinning almost sinisterly. _

_Rosanna was young. She simply thought that the man was being kind. But the offer he made after his generosity surpassed Roses capability to understand._

"_Come with me. I can teach you things no one else can." This confused the young girl, as she asked him what kind of things._

"_Nothing much, martial arts, sword fighting, you might even get powers." He said, trying to capture her attention._

_Rosanna eyes lit up, she was definitely interested. She scampered back to get her things, as she put her hand in the man's larger one and they both strode away, disappearing into the sunlight._

_Then Rosanna was brought into a large, spacious place. She was given her own room, good food and everything she wanted. But she did not know they were just working on gaining her trust._

_But when her training began, she wished she never came here._

_Every mistake cost her a whip of the lash or a burn. There were several other children who were being trained, and they were divided age wise. Each group went into a room every fortnight. _

_The young lass was curious about the happenings there. And when her chance came, she discovered that there, the children were being robbed of their memory by painful force._

_Unfortunately, she had to find out that the big burly man who brought her here was Psimon, the hard way._

_Those four years getting her memory stolen and being brutally trained were the worst years for her. _

_Flashback end._

_XXXX_

By the time she finished narrating this part, she was swiftly wiping off stray tears that made their way out without her permission. Saying Robin was shocked would be an understatement. His teeth were on edge, his breathing was haggard and tensed as he tried to process what was told to him.

He had not imagined, that this much could happen in such a short time. That place had made her so different, so secluded and to herself. He could not help feeling sorry for her. She was trembling by the time she finished. Robin reached for her hand, and held on, speaking soothing words to her.

"I used to burn my hair to keep it black." She told him of her appearance, fingering her choppy locks. "And I had to steal these contacts from an optical centre, though now I feel guilty about it."

That's how she so expertly disguised herself. Now Robin knew.

"Rose, you still did not tell me, how did you get your powers?" Robin asked the question which he was most curious about.

"It is a long story..."

XXXX

_Flashback:_

_"NO!" she screamed, flailing her arms wildly as she ran. _

_"Come back here you wretched little twerp!" A voice called out, scrambling after her._

_A guard ran after the sobbing girl, who thought she will be tortured again, and was trying to escape punishment. A dart flew out, hitting her square on the neck, as she fell to the ground, limp._

_When she woke up, she could not remember anything, all she knew was she was chained to a hard tilted surface with many wires being attached to her._

_She looked around, seeing the vast laboratory with all its chemicals and formulas stacked away neatly. A man in white scoured around for something in the shelves, coming up with a disgusting orange-red liquid._

_Her eyes widened, as she began thrashing once more. A few of the people there held her down while the liquid was injected into her. _

_An uncomfortable tingling sensation came over Rose, as she felt the liquid pulse around. The eyes of the scientists were trained on the screens of the many monitors._

_She suddenly felt her body heat up, but surprisingly she was not burnt. Then steam rose off her, until she scoffed out a few fire balls. The scientists were victorious._

_After that escapade, she was tossed into her cell again, cursed with her supernatural abilities._

_Flashback end._

_XXXX_

Robin tried to not burst out in anger, instead trying to understand the poor girl's situation. Just then, Rose yawned.

"Rose, it's getting dark," Dick said catching sight of the darkening sky and _Scarlet's_ droopy eyelids "You should probably go to sleep."

She nodded. After all those confessions, sleeping sounded fantastic. She quickly dove into bed and snuggled up into her covers. She looked at Robin hopefully, "Stay with me?"

"Sure."

So Robin lingered longer just until she fell asleep. Then he most quietly slipped out of the door to go back to Wayne Mansion, he could not wait to tell Bruce about this.

As he walked over to the zeta tubes, he summarized everything in his mind. It all seemed too much for her to handle, he thought. But he also pledged that he would always be here for her.

After all, sometimes the most elegant Rose has the deadliest thorns.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed the extra long chapter!**

**Luv yah!**

**-N**


	19. Mischeif

**A/N: Hey! New chapter! **

**ThAnKs FoR All ThE ReViEwS! Me is toooo grateful!**

**No. No. No. No, NO!**

**I don't own anything! If I did…(Rubs hands and laughs crazily)**

…**..**

Robin had found out her identity.

Her past.

And…well, most of her secrets.

Both of them had gotten very close ever since the incident which forced Rosanna…Scarlet to spew out all the information. Robin's presence had helped return her memory. She was slowly getting more comfortable at the cave.

One morning, Megan and Artemis had dragged her off to shopping. She obviously did not want to go, but she reluctantly tagged along just to make Megan happy. They all had gone undercover at Forever 21, and M'gann was having a blast, Artemis was not so enthusiastic, and Scarlet was trudging and stumbling behind them like a lone zombie. In short, she felt suffocated amidst the clothes, and shopping just was not her thing.

Rosanna's POV:

It had been God-knows-how-long, but it felt like an eternity to me! Why did they have to drag me with them?! I really don't know how much more long it's going to be…

M'gann just ran off saying something about a cute dress she was definitely going to buy, while Artemis just sat in a corner with her nose in a book. She seemed so happy to visit the mall, now she abandons everything and uses the shop as a library. Well, anything manages to amuse M'gann. I have weird friends…

Seeing that they were busy, I decided to stop complaining and at least try to have fun. Seriously! Where is the fun in a bunch of clothes caving in on you?

M'gann was out of sight, Artemis was literally digging a burrow into the clothes with her bundle of papers, so I slowly slipped away from the scene too.

I ended up in a particularly quiet hallway, where men's tuxedos were on display. It felt good to be away from bustling, squealing women for once. The silence was sweet as honey to my poor ears which were throbbing by now. I wonder how Artemis could read in this screaming mess. I was simply walking up and down the sparse area, enjoying peace, when a boy about my age suddenly barged into the territory I had made mine.

I could feel my eyes widening as I realized who had dropped into here. It was Dick! And in casuals, which meant Bruce must be somewhere nearby. He had told me how overprotective Bats was. Coincidence!

"Dick!" I screamed, running towards him. "What are you doing here?" I asked a little suspiciously. What would a boy do in a clothes shop after all?

"Rose?" he said, rather asked uncertainly. But when he was sure it was me, after I had removed my contacts to prove it that is, he slapped his head hard, as though exasperated or something.

"Bruce is forcing me to buy one of these formal suits for one of his formal parties!" He cried. "God. These are so weird looking." He said picking a random size out of the stacks which was too small for him, making me chuckle. "Wait, what are you doing here?" He implied my question on me.

"I came here with Artemis and M'gann, but they both are too busy to pay attention to me, so I snuck off on my own." I explained. "Which was a great Idea." I added winking at Dick. "So, Bruce is supposed to be somewhere around here, right?' I suddenly piped up at the most uncertain time. Bruce just head-butted into the place we were in.

"Dick!" he sighed in relief. "Don't you ever run off like that again!" He scolded like how a parent would scold their child. Not like they were not family. "Maybe I spoke too soon," I mumbled under my breath, wondering if he was so worried, he did not even bother to look around for once. That is when Bruce noticed there was someone else in that clearing. Always the wrong timing…

He narrowed his eyes at me as though I were a criminal of some sort, I was, but not now, not anymore… before looking at Dick questioningly, who purposefully shrugged his shoulders. We both wanted to see if he remembered me.

"You must be…" He trailed off, after a while, definitely searching for answers. I sighed, a little annoyed that I could be forgotten so easily. "I am, not must be, Rosanna, Rosanna Wilson." I said all nonchalantly, hoping that piece of information would jog his memory. I really was not in the mood to explain. His eyes widened.

"Oh…" He said in realization. I snickered at his reaction at the sudden memory hat must have returned to him. The one where he was taking Dick away. I huffed, he sure was forgetful and non-observant for the world's greatest detective….

"Great to meet you." I said, trying to be respectful. But with all those years of rebel, I had actually forgotten how to respect anything except my own desires. I tried to stifle a laugh nearly unsuccessfully, as Bruce shot daggers at Dick for giving his identity away. Then he looked at me with questioning eyes. So I decided to give the answer.

"Yes, I know you are Batman." I said in a 'duh' one. He nodded approvingly, seeing that it was only Dick's childhood friend, and Dick had a big mouth, he must have spilled all the beans to Bruce. Bruce looked back to Dick with an it's okay ringing in his blue eyes. Sometimes I really wonder if Dick is his real son, there are so many similarities between the two.

Bruce tuned around, browsing through the clothes, which was strange according to me. He just seemed so absorbed in his work. Humans are really complicated creatures.

Suddenly Dick decided to pull me away, while Bruce looked for Dick's clothes. When I saw him heading out of the clothes shop and towards the grocery store, I realized there was an evil naughty plan brewing, so I just went along with it. When I began to wonder about money, which we might have to pay after the chaos ensued, I just thought that a billionaire could surely handle a few broken jars.

We hid behind a huge counter like thing, and Dick opened up his Smartphone, which I was surprised he had, before I peeped into the screen to see he was scrolling through a 50 Things to Do At Wal-Mart list. I rolled my eyes thinking that we were not even at Wal-Mart, but these could be applied anywhere. I suddenly made a humph noise, reaching out to scroll back up. There was one…

Dick smirked his signature smirk, before we decided to go haywire over the whole place.

We ran straight to the place where ketchup was stacked in rows, we each grabbed a bottle and screwed off the caps. The we followed a man around, dripping the ketchup behind him. We were on his tail for quite some time. When I tipped my bottle, getting out the last few bits of red slimy goo, we got up and looked around. The whole place seemed to be Ketchup-ified.

We slapped each other high fives, before going for out next prank, just as we heard the man yell his lungs out. Now we headed to the Bakery section. The long bread sticks, or was it simply bread? Well, I don't remember. Those long hard breads were standing upright in containers. We both grabbed one for ourselves and began Bread sword fighting.

Everyone who passed from there looked at us as though we were the children of lunatics, but we totally disregarded them. I had no idea what the girls were doing at Forever 21, but it was me who was having a blast here! It was not long before we both had breadcrumbs all over us.

We saw a man coming towards us with a furious expression on his face. Hey, I could feel the heat rays he was giving off from a mile away. We got up, turned on our heels and fled. Us superheroes would not run away from ordinary shopkeeper jerks like that, but for the sake of normality we had to. Just how awkward would it be if we sat there shaking bread out of our hair while a man who was ready to kill something, which was us, was advancing on poor children like us?

We were laughing maniacally as we finally stopped running. Then we shook the crumbs off us in heaps, as our scalps began itching thanks to the grains stuck there. I wondered why no one came looking for us yet, we had caused enough destruction. I did not get time to ponder. "Look here!" Dick suddenly screamed in my ear. "Let's do this one!"

That one was going to be epic!

I hid into some of the clothes, which Dick took care to see I was not exposed, before scrambling into the bundle of garments in front. Soon an old lady walked over to the area we were hiding in. I saw her legs approach. I counted down to three, then stuck out a hand, screaming, "Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! Pick me!"

The woman totally freaked and just staggered back, before running away, saying something none of us could understand. We slapped each other high- fives and sat into the clothes again. We saw the same scary shopkeeper come towards us again! I guessed the old lady must have tipped him off.

We tumbled out of the clothes and made a straight beeline out of the place, back to the forbidden Forever 21. I saw M'gann and Artemis getting their stuff billed. M'gann had a stack of clothes, while Artemis just held a simple baggy black T-shirt with the Superman symbol on it. I realized that was for Conner, so Artemis did not get anything.

M'gann saw me. And gestured for me to come over. I rolled my eyes, but anyways made my way through the crowd and appeared in front of the girls. She held out a light cerulean blue Tee with 'Be Who You Are' scrawled on the front of it. I actually quite liked it, I have to admit. It was exactly Dick's eye color. I smiled at M'gann, who grinned back at me, before tossing it onto the counter.

The queue was long, so I wandered off again. I reached the stationary section. I dont know what's with me and school supplies, but I absolutely love browsing through notebooks and pens. I was busy admiring a art set, when I saw a diary lying ignored in the corner. I immediately ran over and scooped it up. It was quite simple, with a dark blue cover, totally my thing. I ran back to the counter with the art set and the diary tucked under my arm. M'gann was thrilled when she saw me picking stuff off the shelf saying 'I should really be into these things.' Then she set it down as well, just as our stuff was taken for billing.

We soon exited the shop our arms overflowing with bags.

This was the best shopping experience ever. Even if me and Dick did not get to do all the 50 things, thanks to that old lady.

I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks, feeling a little ditzy.

A voice was heard clearly echoing in the distance.

I looked around, but found nobody.

It was in my head!

"_You won't get away with nothing…"_

**A/N: There you go!**

**A little fun filled, a little suspense!**

**Did you like it?!**

**Tell me!**


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